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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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http://www.archive.org/details/brahmadarsanamorOOanan 



BRAHMADARSANAM 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




SRI ANANDA ACHARYA 



BRAHMADARSANAM 



OR 



INTUITION OF THE ABSOLUTE 

BEING AN INTRODUCTION TO THE 
STUDY OF HINDU PHILOSOPHY 



BY 



SRI ANANDA ACHARYA 



Kefo garfe 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1917 

All rights reserved 






COPYRIGHT, 1917, 

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 19:7. 



v 
SEP 20 1917 



NorhjoolJ 13«gg 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



©CU476168 



> 



2>e&tcate& 

to my friends and pupils 
in norway. 

Ananda, 



PREFACE 

These lectures were delivered in Christiania 
during the early spring of 1915. My aim was 
to present Hindu ways of looking at the eternal 
verities of life in simple language before the 
mind of the Norwegian public, with whose 
points of view, however, I was as utterly un- 
familiar as they were with mine. In this rather 
venturesome undertaking, I was encouraged to 
persevere through an inner conviction of the 
uniformity, amidst a diversity of forms, of the 
philosophical experiences of humanity all the 
world over. At the same time I am persuaded, 
through a constant watching of the growth of 
the deeper life of students of many nationalities, 
both in the East and in the West, that the 
most efficient way of helping the student of 
soul-philosophy is not to give him any so-called 
academic philosophy at all, but to confer upon 
him the privilege of a free hand, and allow him, 
as it were in his own right, to bring out to his 
own introspection, and shape and mould, all 
the hidden forces of logic and light that lie 
dormant in his own higher nature, needing no 

vii 



viii BRAHMADARSANAM 

interference or compulsion from without, but 
only a favourable spiritual and ethical stimulus, 
in the shape of affinity or real friendship with 
the impersonal individuality of a living, histori- 
cal, and rational culture. 

To require of the student that he should 
swallow the pills of metaphysical theory and 
theological dogma, without protest, were no 
better than to pour concentrated carbolic or 
sulphuric acid on the skin and then to expect 
the unfortunate victim to keep quiet ! 

These lectures were given under the inspira- 
tion of such beliefs, formed partly from personal 
experience in teaching, and partly derived from 
the wisdom of our Hindu Rishis and Gurus. 
Intended especially for beginners, and delivered 
ex tempore, they do not claim to be a systematic 
treatise; they will serve their purpose if they 
succeed in persuading the reader that he and I 
are of one blood and one life. 

Let me add that my sincere thanks are due 
to Miss Hermione Ramsden, without whose 
whole-hearted assistance these lectures would 
never have been written down. 

ANANDA. 

Norway, July 9, 1916. 



CONTENTS 
FIRST LECTURE 

PAGE 

General View-Points of Ancient Indian Philosophers 1 

The meaning of the word Darsana — The six systems 
of Indian philosophy — The Buddha's teaching re- 
garding Nirvana — European chronology — Contrast 
between Indian and European philosophers. 



SECOND LECTURE 

Dualism: Matter and Spirit 21 

Kapila's early training — His philosophy and ethics — 
Three sources of knowledge — Evolution of the 
universe — Nature of the soul : its bondage and sal- 
vation. 



third lecture 

Theism: God and Man 40 

Controversy between science and religion — Truth is 
one — Arguments in favour of theism by Gotama, 
Patanjali, Narada and Sankara — The trend of 
science towards monism — Hymn from the Rig Veda 
— Agreement between modern science and the 
Vedas. 

ix 



x BRAHMADARSANAM 

FOURTH LECTURE 

PAGH 

Monism: Man as Aspect of the Divine ... 70 

Aspects of consciousness — Religious systems without 
a God — Philosophy of relation — Ramanuja's qualified 
monism. 

FIFTH LECTURE 

Monism: The Absolute and the Cosmos . . . 104 

Psychological foundation of Advaita philosophy of 
Sankara — State of subconsciousness — Progressive 
Yoga life — Turiya and Samvit — Avidya, the doc- 
trine of error — Discipleship. 

SIXTH LECTURE 

Monism : Realisation of the Absolute Truth of Life 135 

The constituents of the universe — Composition of 
the spirit, the soul, and the body — The six circles — 
The meaning of Maya — Man's freedom — Samkhya 
versus Vedanta — Consciousness identical with reality. 

Appendix 173 

General Bibliography 193 

Index of Sanscrit Terms 197 



FRONTISPIECE 

Portrait of Sri Ananda Acharta 
Prom an oil painting by Miss Adele Fairholme 



KAPILA'S THEORY OF THE COSMIC 
EVOLUTION 



Free Souls. (Purushas). 






3. 

The Unmanifested (A"vyakta) 




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Intellect 



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The Five Pranas 
(Vital centres) 





The great Manifestation 



Evolution of the Ego 



Radicle or Subtile 
Elements 

Radicle Ether 
Heat 
Gas 
Liquid 
Solid 



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Elements 

Ether 

Heat 

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Liquid 

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The Mind and Body of aS 
Living Creatures. 



J Physical I 
V World / 



XI 



KAPHA'S THEORY OF THE COSMIC EVOLU- 
TION ACCORDING TO VYASA'S COM- 
MENTARY 



The Unknowable. 

Cosmic substance. 

I 



Subject series. 

Mind, brain, perceptive and 
active functional centres. 

i 



Object series. 



Atoms, electrons, 
molecules. 



i 

Individual substances subject to the law of evolution. 

Inorganic and organic substances : 
Vegetable and animal organisms. 

The Twenty-Five Principles of Samkhya. 

1. Purushas 2. Prakriti (the unmanifested) . 

(souls). 3. Mahat (the great reason). 

4. Ahamkar (the ego). 
5-9. The Tanmatras (the subtile elements). 
10-14. The Buddhindriyas (the faculties of know- 
ledge). 
15-19. The Karmendriyas (the faculties of action), 

20. Mind. 
21-25. The Maha-Bhutas (the gross elements). 



Tanmatras. Buddhindriyas. 

1. Sound medium Hearing (in the ear) 



2. Touch 

3. Colour 

4. Savour 

5. Odour 



Touching (in the skin) 
Seeing (in the eye) 
Tasting (in tongue) 
Smelling (in the nose) 

Maha-Bhutas. 

Ether. 
Gas (air). 
Heat — light. 
Liquid (water). 
Solid (earth), 
xii 



Karmendriyas. 

Speaking (in the 

tongue). 
Grasping (in hands). 
Moving (in feet). 
Secretion. 
Generation. 



GENERAL VIEW-POINTS OF ANCIENT 
INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 

The meaning of the word Darsana — The six systems of Indian 
philosophy — The Buddha's teaching regarding Nirvana — 
European chronology — Contrast between Indian and 
European philosophers. 

India has been justly regarded as the home 
of philosophy and religion. From the earliest 
times Indian thinkers have felt the necessity 
of basing religion upon philosophy, and of 
building society upon religion. In order to 
illustrate the fact that philosophy has been the 
dominant factor in the history of India, I will 
begin by telling you a little fairy tale. 

There was once an Indian prince who was 
wandering among the mountains when he met 
a great sage, who told him that he would have 
to pass through many misfortunes and would 
suffer much trouble in the future. The prince 
asked the sage if he could not help him so that 
he might be spared these terrible misfortunes, 
whereupon the sage gave him three things : a 
milk-white leaf, a silver-white bee, and a bee 



2 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

of golden hue, and told him that as long as he 
kept these three together in a safe place, he 
would be preserved from all danger. The prince 
took the three gifts to his mother and explained 
to her their magic properties, whereupon she 
caused a room to be built of stone under a lake, 
and there in a steel box she placed the three 
treasures. 

In the course of time the sage's words were 
fulfilled, and although the prince passed through 
many dangers, his life was preserved. 

It is in the same way that the life of the 
Hindus is preserved through the possession of 
three things : philosophy, morality, and religion. 
The milk-white leaf represents morality, the 
silver-white bee stands for religion, and the 
bee of golden hue symbolises philosophy. All 
through the history of India we find that these 
three have been regarded as sacred and treas- 
ured as the precious talisman that was to pre- 
serve the nation through all the vicissitudes of 
its history. 

As you all know, India has passed through 
many changes during the last few centuries, 
but there are probably no people in the world 
who had been subjected to so much pressure 
from outside, and have yet managed to escape 
from the degenerate influence which is usually 
the result of contact with less civilised races. 1 
Thus we see that the ideals of a holy life have 
been preserved in spite of the absence of a 

1 See Appendix. 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 3 

national government to safeguard the essentials 
of Hindu life and religion. 

Far away from the sun-baked plains, the 
busy towns, and quiet villages, there lived a 
brotherhood of teachers who matured their 
philosophy in the solitude of the mountains and 
in the depths of the forests for the purpose of 
guiding humanity. These teachers, who were 
known by the name of Sannyasins, were, and 
still are, the real legislators, governors, and 
guides of the Indian people. These Sannyasins, 
trained in the science of self-knowledge and self- 
control, and renouncing the ordinary pursuits 
of life, wander all over the country, live among 
the people, and teach them to live the life of 
righteousness. 

It would take too long to give an exhaustive 
account of the influence exerted by Indian 
philosophy on Indian life ; I will only touch on 
a few points. To begin with, it is extremely 
important that I should explain the meaning 
of some technical terms of philosophy for which 
there are no English words which exactly corre- 
spond. 

The word "Darsana" is generally used as 
synonymous with "philosophy," and is derived 
from the Sanscrit root dris which means "to 
see." If we trace the origin of the word, we 
find that the first and most ancient meaning is 
"seeing with the eyes." The second meaning 
is "perceiving with the different senses," per- 
ceiving, that is, with the sense of seeing, sense 



4 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

of hearing, sense of smelling, sense of feeling, 
and sense of tasting. Darsana, therefore, in- 
cludes all that we feel and all that we perceive 
with the external senses through our minds. The 
third development of the word is "seeing with 
the Divine eye," that is, the eye which is opened 
through meditation and purity of life, by which 
means the soul is brought into touch with the 
Highest. Thus the three meanings of the word 
Darsana are : seeing with the senses, seeing 
with the mind, and seeing with the Divine eye, 
which last you may call intuition. 

The third meaning is the most important one 
to be remembered, as it marks off Indian philos- 
ophy from the philosophies of the rest of the 
world by presupposing that the soul is the 
ultimate Reality, and that its substance as well 
as its form is to be described by the word intui- 
tion (Sakshi Svarupa). Some philosophers 
appear to think that consciousness is an attri- 
bute or faculty of the soul which is independent 
of the senses ; others again think that conscious- 
ness is independent of the senses as well as of 
the reasoning powers, and is the intermediate 
link between soul and thought activity; but 
the Vedanta teaches that soul is pure intuition. 

There are at least sixteen different schools of 
philosophy in India, 1 but of these only the six 
principal systems are generally recognised. The 
first and oldest of them is the Samkhya, the 
founder of which was Kapila. Kapila is regarded 

1 See Appendix. 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 5 

as the father of Indian philosophy because, 
although philosophy in the sense of Darsana 
was known to the Rishis even before his time, 
he was the first to place it on a rational basis. 

Now let us turn to the meaning of the word 
Samkhya. Samkhya means that which can be 
numbered, classified, grouped. Kapila called 
his system the numbering system, but of course 
it had nothing to do with arithmetic. It was 
so called because he classified material phenom- 
ena under twenty-four heads, or principles. 
The other meaning of the word Samkhya is 
Atmanatmaviveka, which means the discrimina- 
tion of soul from nature, spirit from matter. 
The reason for separating or differentiating the 
soul from matter is that we are conscious within 
ourselves of a principle, i.e. self-consciousness, 
which is quite different from the rest of the 
universe. You are aware within yourself of 
your own existence; I am conscious within 
myself of my own existence, and, going deeper 
still, I find that I am conscious of my own exist- 
ence as the witness or seer of the thoughts and 
feelings that pass within the mind and body, 
within which the soul appears to dwell. As the 
thoughts and feelings of each one of us differ 
from the thoughts and feelings of others, Kapila 
assumed the existence of a plurality of inde- 
pendent souls, each of which is fundamentally 
different from every other. He also assumed 
the existence of a world of matter independent 
of the world of souls. 



6 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

The object of the Samkhya is to realise the 
distinction between matter and spirit, so that 
the latter can emancipate itself from the bond- 
age of the former; thus Samkhya teaches us 
how to see the spirit which lies encased in 
matter, therefore it is called a Darsana because 
it invites us to see the glory of the spirit as it is 
in itself. 

The second system of Indian philosophy was 
founded by Patanjali and is called the Yoga. 
The Yoga Darsana is not an independent 
Darsana, but has arisen out of the Samkhya 
and may be said to supplement it. The word 
Yoga means " self -concentration with a view 
to see the soul as it looks when it is abstracted 
from mind and matter." 

Patanjali says in his Yoga Sastra that when 
the soul is freed from distraction, ignorance, and 
doubt, it stands face to face with God and is 
blessed with the vision of the All-holy. Thus 
it is quite clear that the object of the Yoga 
Darsana is to teach us how the eye of the soul 
may be opened so that we can see our God, 
through whose grace we are able to escape the 
miseries that are due to ignorance. The fruit 
of God- vision is perfection. Man can only be 
saved by Yoga, that is by the conscious union 
of finite souls with the Infinite through the clear 
recognition on the part of the former of the 
essential kinship of both. This recognition may 
be obtained in various ways, either by dedicating 
all the fruits of our work to God — this way is 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 7 

called the Karma Yoga — or by the absolute 
surrender of all our hopes and aspirations, and 
our self also, to God, in the belief that His grace 
is our highest good. This is called Bhakti Yoga, 
or the realisation of God through love and 
devotion. The highest form of Yoga is called 
Jnana Yoga, in which the finite soul does not 
see itself except as infilled by, and identical 
with, the Absolute God. 

The third system of Indian philosophy is 
called the Nyaya which was delivered by 
Gotama. He taught that the highest aim of 
human life was to attain to a right understand- 
ing of God, soul, and nature. The word Nyaya 
means standard, or universal principle. This 
Gotama lived long before Gautama the Buddha 
and was the inventor of Hindu logic, physics, 
and metaphysics. 

The fourth system is called the Vaishesika 
and is also based upon Gotama's Nyaya ; it is, 
in fact, one of the great divisions of the latter. 
It teaches that Liberation is the reward of 
Divine knowledge. 

The last two, the fifth and sixth systems of 
Indian philosophy, are called the Mimamsa 
and the Vedanta, taught respectively by Jai- 
mini and Vyasa. Mimamsa means profound 
thought, reflection, and is concerned chiefly 
with the correct interpretation of Vedic ritual 
and text, while the Vedanta deals with the 
inquiry into the nature of the Absolute Spirit. 
The object of the Vedanta is to discern the 



8 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

highest truth that is revealed in the conscious- 
ness of humanity, and thereby to attain the 
Highest Goal of existence. 

Now I will briefly refer to some of the subjects 
treated of in the different Darsanas, and this 
will enable you to form an idea of the scope 
and object of Hindu philosophy. They are as 
follows : 

The origin and constitution of the universe. 

The nature of knowledge and its instruments 
(such as mind, etc.). 

The discrimination of the soul and its im- 
mortality. 

The future state of the soul and its wanderings. 

The cause of our embodied existence. 

The cause of pleasure and pain. 

Moral law (Karma). 

Bondage and Liberation. 

Personal God and the Absolute, or the Im- 
personal God. 

One aim inspires the whole body of Hindu 
Darsanas, and that is Liberation — Mukti. 

"As the waters of the ocean have only one 
taste, which is salt, so the Darsanas have only 
one aim, which is Liberation." 

Man wants to be liberated, to be free — free 
from the imperfections of his own nature — 
physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual. This 
aspiration is seated deep down in the very 
nature of our spiritual consciousness, and finds 
eloquent expression in the songs of the Upani- 
shads and in the aphorisms of the Darsanas. 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 9 

To attain to freedom means to be holy and wise 
and perfect, as God is perfect, wise, and holy. 
Different philosophers have interpreted freedom 
in different ways ; for instance, Kapila says that 
freedom means the realisation of the indepen- 
dence of the spirit from the material principle 
in which it finds itself entangled. This state 
of perfection means complete freedom from the 
vicissitudes of terrestrial existence, but this 
may be taken in two ways : first, that the soul 
may be completely extinguished, just as the 
flame of a candle is extinguished; or that the 
soul may return to God from Whom it arose. 

The former teaching has been attributed to 
the Buddha, while the latter emanates from the 
Vedanta. I cannot enter into a discussion as 
to whether the Buddha meant by Nirvana the 
complete extinction of the soul, for the Buddha 
preferred to be silent on questions relating to 
the finality of things, and, as often happens, his 
followers interpreted the sayings of the master 
according to their own favourite views. 1 I can 
only say that my personal opinion on the subject 
of the Buddhist doctrine of Nirvana is that the 
Buddha meant, not the extinction of the im- 
mortal spirit, but of the lower ego which is the 
seat of all selfishness and imperfection. That 
this is so seems probable from what he said 
on one occasion when he took some dry leaves 
into the_ hollow of his hand, and asked his 
disciple Ananda to tell him whether there were 

1 See Appendix. 



10 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

any other leaves besides these, to which Ananda 
replied : 

"The leaves of autumn are falling on all 
sides, and there are more of them than can be 
numbered." 

Then the Buddha said: "In like manner I 
have given you a handful of truths, but besides 
these there are many thousands of other truths, 
more than can be numbered." 

The Buddha was of opinion that man must 
be taught to be moral first, then he will see the 
greater truths for himself. 1 

The Vedantic conception of the soul is based 
upon the essential unity of the soul and Brah- 
man. The Vedantin holds that the idea of an 
individual soul existing apart from the Absolute 
is mistaken logic. Man thinks that he is cut 
off from the Infinite because of his ignorance. 
Liberation means the passing away for ever of 
this illusory sense of finiteness, and realising the 
eternal nature of the Soul. 

All philosophical speculation can be traced 
in the Rig Veda, which is the oldest of all the 
Vedas; there we find such passages as the 
following : 

"The poets and prophets discover God in 
their hearts. Beyond light and darkness, there 
He shines in His wonderful Majesty." 

The entire Vedic literature is filled fwith 
references to the existence of a God, and man's 
need to realise Him. The Upanishads, of 

1 See Appendix. 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 11 

which at the present time there are only 108 
in number, are full of the loftiest poetry with 
regard to the immortality of the soul, the 
Creator of this universe, and the final liberation 
of man through the knowledge of "the God 
who dwells in the cavity of the heart." All 
the philosophical speculations of the world can 
be traced to the Upanishads, which are an in- 
exhaustible storehouse of scientific and philo- 
sophic ideas. 

The next body of literature are the Sutras, 
or aphorisms : all the Darsanas are written in 
this form, and it is quite impossible to under- 
stand them without commentaries. These were 
written much later. The interpretation is in 
the hands of Brahmanas and Sannyasins; the 
Brahmanas teach the lay pupils, and the 
Sannyasins teach those who renounce the 
pursuits of mundane life and devote them- 
selves exclusively to the realisation of the 
Absolute Brahman. 

It is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, 
to settle the chronological order in which these 
different systems were given to the world. 
European scholars have a tendency to fix the 
age of Sanscrit literature at a much later date 
than we do in India, basing their conclusions on 
very superficial evidence. For instance, Wilson 
based his conclusions concerning the date of 
the Mudra-Rakhasa from a passage which runs 
as follows : " . . . being troubled by the 
barbarians"; he said that this drama was 



12 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

composed between the eleventh and twelfth 
centuries a.d., for no other reason than that 
India was invaded by the Mahomedans at that 
time ; but the word Mlechchha refers to all non- 
Indians, and we know that Alexander the Great 
invaded India in the fourth century B.C., and 
that after Alexander's time India was repeatedly 
invaded by Bactrian Greeks and Scythians. 
But Wilson gives no reason why Mudra-Rakhasa 
should not belong to the Alexandrian period. 
Again, Max Miiller thinks that the Vedas were 
composed between 1500 and 1000 B.C., and he 
refers the Sutra literature to a period extending 
from 600 to 200 B.C., although there is hardly 
a single scrap of evidence to substantiate this 
view. 1 

We shall therefore leave the question of dates 
alone. It is certain that in very ancient times 
the real authors of the Vedas taught them to 
their pupils, by whom they were afterwards 
handed down to successive generations, when 
the teachings contained in them came to be 
widely diffused. In later ages, these were 
reduced to writing and divided into different 
systems according to the subject matter, each 
being ascribed to the celebrated Rishi through 
whom it was believed to have been revealed. 

With regard to Indian philosophy, it is im- 
possible to apply what is known as the ideal 
method, or for the matter of that the chrono- 
logical method either, in tracing the develop- 

1 See Appendix. 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 13 

ment of the Darsanas. It is tolerably certain 
that none of the six teachers whom I mentioned 
actually wrote the Sutras which pass under 
their name. Kapila, Kanada, Gotama, Jaimini, 
Patanjali, and Vyasa taught these Darsanas to 
their pupils in systematic form, and many 
centuries after their death the Sutras were 
written; but these great Rishis were not the 
originators, they were the conveyers of the 
Darsanas. It will be seen, therefore, that these 
Darsanas passed through two stages in the 
course of their development, viz. the oral and 
the written stage, the former being of course 
the more ancient. 

European historians and antiquarians firmly 
believe that their ancestors were savages and 
that they are far more enlightened than their 
forefathers, but we in India believe exactly the 
opposite. We think that our ancestors were 
gods and Rishis, endowed with superhuman 
wisdom and holiness, and that we Indians of 
the present day are their unworthy descendants. 
The illusion of European historians consists in 
judging our history from a knowledge of their 
own past. I should like to remind them that 
the law which they deduce from a study of 
the history of Europe after the fall of the 
Roman Empire cannot be held to account for the 
civilisations of ancient Egypt, Greece, Persia, 
India, and China. In those countries civilisa- 
tion, instead of developing, has degenerated, 
while in Europe civilisation has progressed from 



14 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

very unpromising beginnings, India looks 
back, while Europe looks forward to the Golden 
Age. ^ 

It is not every one who is called to the study 
of the Darsanas; there are certain mental, 
moral, and spiritual qualifications that are 
necessary, the first and most important being 
that the student should have fulfilled all his 
duties towards the worlds among which are 
included, not only civic and household duties, 
but all the observances required of him towards 
the manes of his forefathers, as well as the 
offering of sacrifices to the deities who preside 
over nature. Next, he must be able to control 
his senses, his mind and intellect. He must 
cultivate what is called one-pointedness, not 
allowing his mind to wander ; he must be ready 
to forgive every injury that may be inflicted on 
him; and he must be able to see God in all. 
When a man possesses all these qualifications, 
then he is allowed to study philosophy. Yet 
it must not be supposed that the mass of the 
people are kept in ignorance, for as in Europe 
there are only a few experts who devote them- 
selves to the higher branches of science, such 
as mechanics, chemistry, medicine, etc., so in 
India it is only the few who may devote them- 
selves to the study of the Darsanas, while to 
the populace philosophy is taught through the 
medium of religion, mythology, and parables. 
The drama, art, and poetry of India are all 
pervaded by this teaching. 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 15 

The circle of students who are privileged to 
study the Darsanas under qualified teachers is 
very wide in one direction, and very narrow in 
the other; for instance, it is wide because it 
includes all the Devas x and the Pitris, 1 and the 
three twice-born castes. It is narrow because 
it excludes the Sudras, or fourth caste, and 
women, unless they give up their worldly attach- 
ments and devote themselves completely to the 
unfoldment of the spiritual side of their nature. 
The sine qua non of the privilege of study in all 
cases is a real thirst for truth. 2 

In India the ideal of education is very high, 
and consequently its realisation implies a process 
coeval with the progress of the soul through 
infinite time. As the summit of human per- 
fection cannot be attained within the brief span 
of a single life, and as society is composed of 
individuals, each differing from the other in 
taste, inclination, capacity, and attainment, 
education was arranged in such a way that 
all classes of men and women, from the best 
and brightest minds to the most commonplace, 
should be afforded opportunities for receiving 
instruction. 

The Rishis recognised that a fundamental 
contradiction exists between the requirements 
of our spiritual and our earthly life, and that 

1 The Devas are the personal deities who preside over the 
various forces of nature. The Pitris are the spirits of the dead, 
ancestral spirits. 

2 See Appendix. 



16 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

this can only be overcome by making the latter 
subservient to the former. From this originated 
the institution of Asrams and castes. The 
Asrams are the stages of life for receiving the 
education suited to each ; for instance, the first 
period of a man's life ought to be devoted to 
the acquirement of knowledge ; the next should 
be devoted to the performance of the duties 
incidental to social life ; the third period should 
be devoted to the acquisition of truths which 
lie at the root of all things, such as the nature 
of God, the state of the soul after death, etc., 
and the fourth period should be devoted to the 
realisation of the Highest ; but during this last 
period of life men who have passed through this 
training are expected to give the fruits of their 
experience to the rising generation. 

So also with the caste system. It is based 
upon the fact that our capacities are to a great 
extent inborn, and that the ends of a complex 
society can be best served by utilising the 
principles of heredity. Each caste has a particu- 
lar profession as well as duties and obligations 
of its own. For this reason the education of 
one caste differed from the education of the 
others, and this difference is explained by the 
desire of social legislators to produce the most 
efficient citizen. But while paying attention to 
the development of the practical faculties of 
citizens, they never lost sight of their spiritual 
needs. The idea was that whatever may be the 
intellectual or moral character of a citizen, each 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 17 

one is to be taken by the hand and led step by 
step to the Highest Goal. 

In Europe, philosophy is the favourite study 
of those who are of a contemplative turn of 
mind, it has never been the common property 
of the public; whereas in India, philosophy is 
as vital a need to all as the air we breathe or 
the food we eat, it is not in the hands of ama- 
teurs or academical professors. 

European philosophy does not concern itself 
either with the foundation of religion or that of 
morality. The people, no less than the Church, 
never expected guidance from the philosopher 
in matters relating to the supersensuous. But 
in India the teachers of the six systems of 
philosophy are also the teachers of religion 
and morality. Religious life was never divorced 
from philosophical contemplation, nor was the 
culture of the Darsanas viewed with suspicion 
by religious people. The secret of the harmony 
between Darsanikas and Dharmikas (philoso- 
phers and religious men) is that the former 
started with the assumption that the Vedas 
were revealed to man by God. No Darsanika 
every questioned this supreme fact, hence the 
happy blending of faith with reason, which is 
conspicuously absent in the history of the 
development of European philosophy. 

The Indian Darsanika starts his inquiry 
with a searching examination of the position 
of man, including both his psychology and his 
surroundings; he finds that although man is 



18 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

happy to a certain degree, he is not supremely 
so, that his lot is a mixed one, while he continually 
longs for an unmixed state of blessedness. The 
investigation into the cause of suffering leads 
the Indian philosopher to the conclusion that 
all pain is due to our confusion of the immaterial 
spirit with the material body, and his final 
teaching is that man can — by means of know- 
ledge, and knowledge alone (Jnana) — become, 
not only the master of his fate, but that he can 
isolate himself completely from the onslaught 
of all evils, including death, even in this life. 

Hindu philosophers teach that the soul is 
a spiritual, conscious substance, perfect and 
universal, neither liable to birth, death, or pain, 
but that, owing to the power of a mysterious 
agency, sometimes called Avidya, ignorance, 
and sometimes Aviveka, non-discrimination, or 
Mithya Jnana, false knowledge, souls are tied 
to subtile bodies and are made to pass through 
pain and pleasure, birth and death. Souls suffer 
Samsara, or repeated births, owing to non- 
discrimination of the real from the unreal, i.e. 
the confusion of the Immortal Soul with the 
perishable aspects of personality. All works 
born out of this primitive non-discrimination, 
whether mental or physical, moral or immoral, 
are reproductive, i.e. they go on multiplying 
until they are counteracted and destroyed by 
true knowledge. Therefore the highest aim of 
man is to attain to perfection and freedom 
through the destruction of all Karma (works). 



i VIEWS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS 19 

Karma can only be destroyed by the complete 
annihilation of ignorance, non-discrimination, 
and false knowledge. 

It is extremely difficult to picture in the 
mind's eye the state of freedom which the 
Indian philosopher has in view. It must be 
remembered that he believes that all that we 
call suffering, disease, and death, is, in the 
last analysis, a state of feeling which does not 
correspond with reality. When Jnana * arises, 
all the apparitions which are called up by our 
imagination and feeling will vanish away and 
nothing will remain except the Absolute I AM. 
This is called the highest stage, from the summit 
of which body, mind, and the whole universe 
will appear as mere shadows. 

Although this idea of Mukti, or liberation of 
the finite spirit through the knowledge of its 
infinite nature, is foreign to European philoso- 
phers, it must be said that, both in the Bible 
and in the writings of early Christian mystics, 
the belief in the attainment of one-ness with 
God through love is frequently to be met with. 
Again, although the idea of the infinite move- 
ment of the finite spirit in accordance with the 
law of moral retribution has not found any place 
in the discussions of European philosophers, it 
does not seem to have been unfamiliar to the 
author of the Gospel according to St. John. 

1 Jnana is the intuition which arises through the development 
of the cognitive faculties. 



/ 



( 



20 BRAHMADARSANAM i 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sarvadarsana Samgraha, p. 85. 
Buddha, by H. Oldenberg, pp. 263-285. 
Dhammapada, pp. 427-445. 
Samyuttaka Nikaya. 
Malinda Panha. 
Rig Veda. 

Mr. Dhruva's paper, "On the Age of the Veda." 
Mr. Tilak's "Arctic Home of the Aryas" and "The 
Orion." 



II 

DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 

Kapila's early training — His philosophy and ethics — Three 
sources of knowledge — Evolution of the universe — Nature 
of the soul : its bondage and salvation. 

In my last lecture I explained that the first 
object of Hindu philosophers was to investigate 
the cause of life and nature, and then to discover 
the best means of becoming one with that cause ; 
that is to say, it is a search into the eternal 
nature of the human soul and an inquiry as to 
its ultimate destiny. 

To-night I propose to take up the subject of 
the most ancient and most honoured of Indian 
philosophies, the Samkhya. This word has two 
meanings, of which one is the enumeration of 
first principles, and the other, the discrimination 
of spirit from matter. The real founder of the 
system is absolutely unknown, but the germ of 
its teaching is to be found in verse 5, chapter iv. 
of the Svetdsvetara Upanishad of the Krishna 
Yajur Veda, where several references to the 
Samkhya doctrine occur; but the Samkhya 

21 



22 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

philosophy was first taught in a systematic form 
by Kapila, and for this reason he is regarded 
as its founder. It was Kapila who systematised 
it and placed it upon a rational basis ; he was 
the first to collect the different ideas that were 
taught under the Samkhya system, and it was 
he who delivered it to the world. 1 

Very little is known regarding the facts of 
the founder's life. His father was a Rishi called 
Kardama, and his mother's name was Devahuti. 
It was from her that he learnt the rudiments of 
philosophy and all the varied teachings about 
the soul, the life hereafter, and the Eternal God. 

Gradually the teachings of the mother pro- 
duced their results in him and he took to a life 
of contemplation; tradition says that in later 
life he destroyed the wicked sons of Sagara, the 
then-reigning king, by means of his occult power. 
A likeness of Kapila has recently been found, 
sculptured in the rock, in a cave temple which 
still exists in the district of Anuradhapura in 
Ceylon. It shows him sitting in his cave in an 
attitude of contemplation. He is said to have 
passed the remainder of his days on an island 
called Sagara which is situated at the mouth 
of the river Ganges, about ninety miles from 
Calcutta, and every year, on the last day of the 
Sanscrit month Magha, at the time when the 
sun begins its northerly course and passes from 
Sagittarius into Capricornus, thousands of men 
and women visit the place where he meditated 

1 See Appendix. 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 23 

and gave the fruits of his meditation to Asuri, 
his disciple. Thus the tradition of his life is 
still kept up at the present day, and all Indians, 
especially the Hindus, worship his memory as 
a great saint and philosopher. 1 

As regards the date when he lived, according 
to Hindu tradition he flourished about five 
thousand years from now, that is more than 
two thousand years before the birth of Buddha. 2 
Mention of him has been found in many 
Sanscrit books, and even those writers who are 
opposed to his doctrines allude to him with the 
greatest reverence, which proves how great his 
influence must have been in ancient India. 

The method followed in the Samkhya Sutra 
is pre-eminently logical. Kapila recognises three 
modes of gaining knowledge : perception, in- 
ference, and revelation (Sabda) . The existence 
of the world is proved by the testimony of the 
senses, and the existence of the cause of the world 
can be proved by inference. The existence of the 
soul is also proved by inference. Kapila regards 
the Vedas as revealed, and cites Vedic texts as 
an infallible authority in support of all his theses 
— which are proved by perception and inference. 

By perception is meant the knowledge pro- 
duced through the contact of the understanding 
and senses with objects. Our intellect assumes 
the form of the object which is presented before 
the mind by the senses. I see the ink-pot 
because — 

1 See Appendix. 2 See Appendix. 



24 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

(1) The ink-pot is within the range of my 
vision, and 

(2) My intellect spontaneously assumes the 
form of the ink-pot. 

The soul becomes aware of the existence of the 
ink-pot owing to the contribution of the form 
of the ink-pot by the intellect and the contribu- 
tion of the matter (colour, etc.) of the ink-pot 
by the organ of sight. This is Kapila's theory 
of perception (see Sutra 89, ch. viii.). Inference 
is preceded by perception. The knowledge by 
inference is due to the unconditional and 
universal association between two observed 
facts; for instance, when we see smoke at a 
distance we infer the existence of fire. Why? 
Because we know from experience that fire is 
always present where there is smoke. Thus 
whenever we see an effect, we infer a cause, 
because, as Kapila says, out of nothing some- 
thing cannot arise. All perceptions are not 
logically valid. A perception can be vitiated 
in many ways, and as no inference is of any 
weight unless drawn from correct perceptions, 
it is useful to be acquainted with those condi- 
tions which tend to invalidate perceptions. 

For instance, the observer must not be very 
far away from the object to be observed, and his 
senses must be in the normal state. Neither 
can he obtain a correct picture of an object if 
he be too near it. The observer's mind must be 
scientifically trained and free from prejudices 
and undue leanings. Without a judicious 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 25 

balance of the mental faculties no observer can 
draw truly scientific conclusions. Then, again, 
we sometimes fail to see a thing even with the 
most powerful microscope when the size of the 
object is too small. It is for this reason that 
the atom is impossible of being observed. The 
interval of time is one of the most important 
factors in observation, and if the interval be 
too long it is most probable that we shall not 
have any knowledge of the object. For this 
reason people hesitate to accept the theory of 
the origin of the nebular system or that of the 
origin of species. Lastly, a certain amount of 
what may be called pre-scientific intuition is 
necessary in order that facts may be collected 
and arranged with a view to bring them under 
a general principle. All great discoveries in 
science have been made by those who started 
their scientific career with a kind of intuition. 
Intuition creates the truths which the mind 
understands. Newton had the intuition of 
universal attraction, and his mind brought forth 
the mathematical laws of the falling bodies in 
order to confirm his intuitive conviction. 

Kapila teaches that in its phenomenal aspects 
a thing changes, but in its causal aspect it is 
indestructible and eternal. The cause of the 
phenomenal world is indestructible, but the 
world as seen by us is liable to the law of change. 
Kapila was the first philosopher who taught 
that the universe was evolved out of primal, 
undifferenced matter. 



26 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

Kapila's philosophy is characterised by a deep 
moral sentiment. Perfection is the aim of life, 
and perfection is to be obtained through the 
knowledge of the soul as distinct from matter. 
Virtue is the road to perfection ; happiness and 
peace are the rewards of a virtuous life; dis- 
content and misery are the result of a vicious 
life. No act is mortal, no thought perishes. 
The progress of the individual is determined by 
his actions : man becomes angel by noble deeds, 
and beast by ignoble ones, for our deeds accom- 
pany us to the world beyond after physical 
death. Forgiveness is Divine; there is no 
happiness higher than that which arises from 
forgiving others. Dispassion is worthy of the 
highest praise, and passion is to be condemned 
because the offspring of attachment to the 
things of the not-self is evil, while great good 
arises from the philosophic virtues of dispassion, 
serenity, and contemplation. 

The transcendental grounds of Kapila's ethics 
are : (1) eternity of the soul ; (2) imperishabil- 
ity of human feelings, thoughts, and actions; 

(3) rebirth according to the law of Karma ; and 

(4) Liberation as the ultimate goal of man. In 
proportion as man shuns evil and chooses good, 
as he knows his true self and renounces his false 
self, as he realises freedom and ignores the 
shadowy pleasures of the senses, he approaches 
nearer and nearer to Mukti or Liberation. 

Though Kapila accepted the authority of 
the Vedas as truths revealed to the Rishis (see 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 27 

Sutra 46, ch. v., and 147, ch. i.), he strongly 
protested against the authority of the priests. 
His great humanity led him to raise his voice 
against animal sacrifices, and he also taught 
that no sensible man should perform sacrifices 
with a view to entering into heaven after death, 
because, by the law of rotation, those who go 
to heaven must return to earth (see Sutra 6, 
ch. i.). The state of perfection cannot be 
attained by sacrifices, by offspring, or by char- 
ity, but only by renouncing that which by its 
nature is not eternal. 

I believe that Kapila also instituted the 
Sannyas, or monastic system. Certainly the 
trend of thought in the fourth chapter of the 
Sutras inclines towards the renunciation of the 
world with a view to discovering the truths of 
spiritual life in the solitude of mountain and 
desert. He says that the Yogi ought not to 
associate with many people, as such association 
may prove an obstacle to concentration. He 
next goes so far as to say that the Sannyasin 
(one who has renounced) ought to live absolutely 
alone. Even living with one companion only 
is regarded as injurious to the interests of the 
soul (ch. iv. 10). All knowledge and all power 
is contained in the soul, and its glory is revealed 
in silence and solitude. You are your own 
friend, your own guide, your own teacher, and 
your own saviour. Comfort yourself by your- 
self, raise yourself by yourself, educate yourself 
by yourself, and liberate yourself by yourself. 



28 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

I will now try to explain Kapila's teaching 
about the origin and development of the Universe. 
Nothing is more difficult than to present old 
ideas in modern language, for, as Max Miiller 
somewhere says, ancient words are square and 
modern words are round. The subject will appear 
very complicated to you because the philosophi- 
cal technicalities of the Sanscrit language are 
quite different from the philosophical terms of 
English, French, German, or Norwegian. Even 
such words as mind, perception, immortality, 
and salvation have quite a different meaning 
in Sanscrit ; yet in order that you should under- 
stand the spirit of the Sanscrit Darsanas, it is 
absolutely necessary that you should under- 
stand what each term connotes. The worth of 
a philosophy depends upon the meaning at- 
tached to the words used by the philosopher. 

Kapila's philosophy is called the Samkhya 
because it attempts to comprehend the Universe 
as a sum total of 25 Tattvas, principles, cate- 
gories, substances. If you refer to the chart 
you will understand how the world of phenom- 
ena has evolved out of the primal undifferenced 
Matter (Prakriti) . Kapila starts with the exist- 
ence of free spirits (Purusha), and an original, 
unmanifested substance called Prakriti, or 
Nature, which was anterior to creation. Prior 
to evolution, the three Gunas (forces, substances, 
or entities) called sattva, raja, and tama (mind, 
energy, and matter) were in Prakriti in a state 
of perfect equilibrium ; evolution begins as soon 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 29 

as spirits come in touch with Prakriti. Both 
spirit and nature are inactive but omnipresent, 
ubiquitous, and eternal — only the former is 
conscious, the latter unconscious. The creative 
activity of Prakriti is not its own, but is due to 
the approach of the spirit; just as a piece of 
white glass appears red if a rose is placed near 
it, so the very presence of Purusha* is the sine 
qua non of creation by Prakriti. Hence there 
is no active will on the part of Purusha, neither 
is there any conscious desire on the part of 
Prakriti, to create the world. Action follows as 
the result of the meeting of two eternal entities. 

Prakriti in its transcendental aspect is called 
Avyakta (the Unmanifested), in its empirical 
aspect Mahat, or the first Great Mind. Mahat 
is the evolution of the determinate from the in- 
determinate, the coming forth of the Idea, the 
Psyche, from the womb of its eternal ground, 
the manifestation of the cosmic reason from a 
disturbance in the equilibrium of the everlasting 
Gunas. At this distance of time it is difficult 
to understand what Kapila really meant by 
Mahat, the first development of Prakriti. 

A doubt arises as to whether Mahat is to be 
taken in the sense of a phase in the cosmic growth 
containing within it the potentialities of life, 
will, body, as well as of the material world, or 
only pure mind and reason. Indian com- 
mentators incline to the latter view, pointing 
to the logical priority of conception over that 
which is conceived, of thought over that which 



30 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

is the object of thought, and of will — before it 
became dynamic. Mahat is thought in which 
the form of thought and the movement of thought 
are held in equilibrium, just as Prakriti is sub- 
stance in which power is locked up in idea, so 
that neither power nor idea can be said to have 
actual existence in the Avyakta. The problem 
as to how Avyakta is transformed into Mahat 
is inexplicable, unless we suppose that Avyakta 
was pregnant with productivity, which is what 
Kapila says. 

In Mahat, says Kapila, sattva (goodness, 
light) predominates, while raja (energy) and 
tama (inertia, darkness, evil) are inactive and 
almost non-existent. 

Out of Mahat, the Great Mind, arises Aham- 
kara (the subject, ego, "I"), or consciousness 
of self as a real power, or doer, opposed to not- 
self. The difference between Mahat and Aham- 
kara is the difference between consciousness and 
self-consciousness, the former being the tran- 
scendental ground and logical presupposition of 
the latter. Out of Ahamkara arise the five 
Tanmatras, or ethereal counterparts of the 
elements, which are, (1) subtile sound, (2) subtile 
touch, (3) subtile light, (4) subtile taste, and 
(5) subtile smell, and the eleven senses, viz. the 
five centres of perception : sight, hearing, touch, 
taste, and smell ; the five centres of action : 
grasping, walking, secretion, speech, and genera- 
tion ; also the mind, i.e. the inner sense which 
directs the ten senses. 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 31 

These motor and sensitive centres are not 
to be confounded with the organs of sight, etc., 
and the organs of action, such as the hands, 
legs, etc. They are functions of mind con- 
joined to the nervous system. They are psycho- 
nervous senses. Kapila says that these centres 
are invisible, they are situated inside the brain. 
Mind is regarded as the central power or faculty, 
for receiving messages from the senses and for 
directing them to their respective objects. Out 
of the Tanmatras arise the gross elements : 
ether, gas, heat, liquid and solid. These gross 
elements (Mahabhutas) appear to us as sky, 
atmosphere, light and heat, water and air. The 
Tanmatras are the media between senses and 
objects, and their function is to act as excitants 
of nerve centres, hence each Tanmatra differs 
in quality from every other Tanmatra; for 
instance, the Tanmatra which excites the eye 
to see the colour of an object is quite different 
from the Tanmatra which excites the auditory 
centre to perceive the distinction between con- 
tralto and soprano. The Mahabhutas (elements) 
have an extra-mental and extra-organic exist- 
ence, but the Tanmatras are like nerve and ether 
vibrations, interpenetrating matter and mind 
alike. This is Kapila's theory of the evolution 
of the world. 

Kapila's account of the development of the 
Universe is neither idealistic nor materialistic, 
nor a compound of both. His theory is not 
idealistic, because he does not believe in the 



32 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

evolution of matter and energy out of the soul. 
His theory is not materialistic, because he does 
not evolve soul out of matter. His philosophy 
is not a compromise between idealism and 
materialism, because he does not teach that 
souls and nature have come out of a common 
substance, call it God or universal Mind. He 
does not consider that it is philosophically right 
to assume the existence of a God to account for 
the creation of the world. Just as milk flows 
from the udder of a cow at the sight of her calf, 
and just as the spider weaves the cobweb out 
of its own body, so does Nature create. Thus 
Kapila's philosophy is known to Indian scholars 
as atheistic; but if you consider the matter 
well, you will not be able to class Kapila with 
ordinary atheists. Kapila recognises the possi- 
bility of a personal God, along with the im- 
possibility of proving His existence according 
to the canons of perceptive and inferential logic. 
If God were perfect, says Kapila, He would not 
feel the need of creating a world ; if He were 
imperfect — an imperfect being cannot be called 
God, neither would He have the power or in- 
telligence to create a world. Hence it follows 
that Kapila's philosophy cannot be called 
theistic. But Kapila believes in the eternity 
of the soul, in the supremacy of Jnana (Divine 
Wisdom) , in the greatness of our moral sentiment, 
and in Nature as working for man's highest good. 
It is not just to label his system pessimistic, for 
in that case all philosophy which starts with 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 33 

the assumption of the dimness of our religious 
vision, the narrowness of our sympathies, the 
weakness of our reasoning faculty, and, above 
all, of our liability to sickness, pain, and death, 
must be stigmatised as pessimistic. 

All philosophers, whether theistic or atheistic, 
are in search of a wisdom which, by its all- 
mightiness and by its saving quality, shall 
raise humanity from the depths of sin, folly, 
and ignorance, to a level that is equal with 
the perfection and freedom of God Himself. 
It is a part of wisdom to recognise the imper- 
fection of our human state; it is also a part 
of wisdom to hope for final liberation from all 
our limitations. Man is in reality Divine, 
though apparently human. 

Kapila teaches that although our terrestrial 
life appears to be full of sorrow, yet it is not 
our true destiny to suffer. We are, in essence, 
eternally free, eternally wise, eternally living, and 
eternally holy. All this suffering, this sickness, 
old age and death have come upon us as the re- 
sult of our Aviveka, or unwisdom, our Avairagya 
or habitual attachment to sensual pleasures. 
We are the unwilling slaves of our phantom 
selves — the self of ignorance and the self of 
passion — those selves which are associated with 
a wrong notion of personality. Are we not quite 
contented with our silly opinions, silly comforts, 
silly conduct, and silly mode of life? Be wise 
and learn to entertain true opinions, to enjoy 
true comforts, and to lead a noble life. That 



34 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

which you call yourself is a ghost; your true 
self is far more beautiful, far more Divine. 
Realise your power and holiness, your inborn 
grandeur and your perfect wisdom. Your body 
should be your slave, not you the slave of your 
body ; your mind is an instrument of the soul, 
let it not get the better of the soul. 

Ry ignorance is meant the belief that the 
soul shares the fate of the body and is incapable 
of being independent of Karma (deeds), Daiva 
(natural forces), and Adrista (mysterious power). 
This ignorance flows like a perpetual stream 
down the ages, dragging the soul to an unknown 
ocean of mixed experiences. It is this ignorance 
which is responsible for our birth, old age, death, 
and rebirth ; it existed primarily as a formless 
idea in Prakriti,and secondarily as a force acting 
through the various manifestations of nature. 
The association of soul with matter is the oppor- 
tunity for the unloosing of this strange demon of 
ignorance by tying the soul to the body, thereby 
causing it to undergo the pangs of rebirth. 

The soul, according to Kapila, is the King of 
Nature. Your feelings, your surroundings, the 
world, and all the powers of the universe must 
offer up their homage, their secrets, to your 
highest spiritual need. Your real self has not 
only the knowledge but also the power to 
separate itself from the false self and to rise 
above the reach of the compelling force of 
universal gravitation, thereby returning to its 
home of peace and light and love. The law of 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 35 

Karma, by which every thought, word, and 
deed, like a seed thrown on fertile soil, produces 
its fruit in life after life, determining the quality 
of the brain, affections, and impulses, is not half 
as potent as the potency of self-knowledge. 
Ignorance is the mother of all our sorrows. Sin 
is ignorance, cruelty is ignorance, selfishness is 
ignorance. Be not selfish, but be a knower of 
the self. A selfish man is he who is ignorant 
of his true self, but he who knows the self has 
realised the difference between the Eternal and 
the temporal self, the real Self and the unreal. 
Self-knowledge is the source of blessedness; 
self-government gives supremacy; self-control 
confers contentment, and the vision of the Self 
reveals the absolute "I am." 

After its evolution from Avyakta (the un- 
differenced primal matter), Prakriti becomes 
Mahat (the great monad, or intelligence) . Mahat 
is a substance which has eight attributes : 
(1) righteousness, and its opposite (2) unright- 
eousness; (3) knowledge, and its opposite 
(4) ignorance ; (5) dispassion, and its opposite 
(6) passion; (7) supernormal power, and its 
opposite (8) powerlessness. 

Mahat may be taken to mean the transcen- 
dental ground, or impersonal source, the meta- 
physical hypothesis, or inconceivable substratum 
of our personal mind. Mahat is the first deter- 
mination of the indeterminate substance con- 
taining the qualities of goodness, power, wisdom, 
and temperance. 



36 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

Ahamkara is the second determination of the 
Primal Indeterminate. The diffused rays of the 
universal mind become concentrated and are 
narrowed down to the limits of self-conscious- 
ness. As the Hindus teach that God becomes 
man to save the world, so Kapila teaches 
that Mahat becomes Ahamkara — the universal 
becomes individualised. Ahamkara is the 
belief that I am the conscious subject who is 
experiencing the sensations of sound, light, 
heat, smell, etc. 

In order to understand the nature of Aham- 
kara, we must first understand the psychology 
of perception. The ego is the centre to which 
all perception is referred. All feelings of happi- 
ness or unhappiness, success or failure, are 
claimed by the ego. Not only the pleasures 
and pains of my own body, but also those of 
other bodies, are superimposed upon the ego. 
A man becomes unhappy when his wife or 
children are ill. The ego claims all experience, 
whether spiritual or social, whether physical 
or mental, as its own. The distinction between 
subjective and objective experience is due to 
Ahamkara. The ego is this which I feel within 
myself, the non-ego is that which is outside 
myself ; everything has an individuality of its 
own in this world. Water has an individuality 
of its own, fire likewise, and virtue and 
vice. We see the individuality in things be- 
cause we are conscious of our own individu- 
ality. Mental individuality manifests itself in 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 37 

good, bad, or indifferent deeds; but this ego 
is phenomenal and unreal, it is not our true and 
abiding self. 

The five Tanmatras arise out of the Aham- 
kara. What are these Tanmatras ? They are the 
essences, radicles, atoms, and fine forces which 
are the causes of the grosser elements as well as 
the causes of our perception of the external 
world. Hence the Tanmatras are the psycho- 
physical or neuro-physical waves which carry 
messages from the sense centres to the mind. 
They are the intermediate links which connect 
the ego with the non-ego, the subject with the 
presentation. They are five in number because 
there are five senses : sight, hearing, smell, 
taste, and touch. Each Tanmatra differs in 
quality from the other ; the Tanmatra of sound 
is different from that of light, and so on ; but 
one Tanmatra is enough to account for the 
diversity within it, e.g. one Tanmatra of sound 
carries all varieties of sound, such as the differ- 
ent musical notes : do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si ; so 
with light, heat, smell, etc. 

The Tanmatras are followed by the sixteen 
Mikaras, or modifications, consisting of the five 
organs of perception : the ears, skin, eyes, 
tongue, and nose, and the five organs of action : 
the voice, hands, feet, the organ of excretion, 
and the organ of generation. 

The mind is the eleventh organ whose function 
it is to direct and control the organs of percep- 
tion and action. The mind receives messages 



38 BRAHMADARSANAM n 

and sends them, the mind ascertains facts, and 
the mind doubts. 

The five Mahabhutas, or gross elements, are : 
solid, liquid, heat, gas, and ether. They are also 
named : earth, water, light, air, and ether. Earth 
has five qualities : sound, touch, colour, taste, 
and smell. Water has four : sound, touch, 
colour, and taste. Light has three : sound, 
touch, and colour. Air has two: sound and 
touch. Ether has one : sound. 

These are the 24 Tattvas, or principles, 
enumerated by Kapila to explain the evolution 
of the universe. Purusha, or soul, is the 25th 
principle, and possesses the following character- 
istics : the soul is eternal, without end or 
beginning, subtile and indivisible, uncreated; 
the soul is a seer, because it sees the evolution 
of nature; it is transcendental, because it is 
above space, time, and causality ; it is unaffected 
by goodness and evil; it is unproductive, be- 
cause immaterial, and many, because infinite 
in number. 

The highest aim of life is to isolate the soul 
from nature, to raise it above the perception of 
time and space, and to liberate it from the false 
self. This aim can be realised by training the 
soul by means of the discipline of dispassion, 
righteousness, superhuman power, and know- 
ledge. Nature is not a hindrance but a help to 
its progress. When the soul achieves Mukti, or 
Liberation, it rests in its own glory, wisdom, 
freedom, and peace. 



ii DUALISM: MATTER AND SPIRIT 39 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Tattva Samasa.' 

Samkhyatattvaloka. 

Samkhy akaumudi . 

Pravachana Sutra with Vedanti Madhab's, Aniruddha's, 

and Vijnana Bhikshu's Tikas. 
Vyasa Bhasya on Yoga Sutra. 
Vachaspati Misra's Tattva Kaumudi. 
Srimad Bhagavata. 
Svetasvetara Upanishad. 
The Samhita of Astavakra. 



Ill 

THEISM: GOD AND MAN 

Controversy between science and religion — Truth is one — 
Arguments in favour of theism by Gotama, Patanjali, 
Narada and Sankara — The trend of science towards 
monism — Hymn from the Rig Veda — Agreement between 
modern science and the Vedas. 

There is a sadness in the air, a sadness born of 
doubt. The present age is one of scepticism* 
Two mighty currents of opinion are sweeping 
over the plain of human thought; the first is 
the current of faith, of sacerdotal authority, of 
the claims of revealed religion and of experiences 
labelled spiritual. This river of religious belief 
is fed by many tributary streams and rivulets 
which are known to the public through the 
medium of the press, the pulpit, and the plat- 
form, known by such names as Theosophy, Oc- 
cultism, Higher Thought, New Thought, Chris- 
tian Science, Bahaism, Spiritism. The aim of all 
these is to establish man's faith in the Invisible. 
I use the word "invisible" to cover a mass 
of heterogeneous facts and phenomena, rang- 
ing from table-rapping, thought-transference, 

40 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 41 

mediumship, belief in "astral planes," "subtile 
bodies," Karmaloka, 1 reincarnation, magnetic 
healing, and many such facts supposed to exert 
a direct influence upon our faith in the existence 
of another order of experience and of a life 
beyond death, and an indirect influence towards 
the development of our sense of the Infinite. 
These many forms of thought are leading some 
to the fold of the Mother Church of Europe, 
while enabling others to read a new meaning into 
the words of the Scriptures, and thus, in a sense, 
to re-establish the traditions of the Christian 
Church on a new foundation. It would be pre- 
mature at present to pronounce an opinion on 
the ultimate issue of this first-named current 
of thought. 

The second current of opinion is that of 
positive thought — of science, both theoretical 
and applied. The light of science has dazzled 
the eyes of her votaries to such an extent that, 
like persons blinded by the sun, they can see 
nothing but mist and gloom outside their 
laboratories and observatories. The scientist 
declares, and there is an undeniable ring of 
truthfulness in his tone, that he had dissected 
the body of man, that he has examined every 
muscle and bone, every nerve and sinew, but 
has not found the soul, that he has swept the 
entire heavens with his telescope, but has not 
found God. To him, physical death is the last 
of our life's drama, and the "Hereafter" is a 

1 See Appendix. 



42 BRAHMADARSANAM m 

dream, a fantasy arising from the fumes of an 
ill-digested dinner. God is the hallucination of 
disorganized brains and insane minds ; nothing 
which is not visible is counted worthy of our 
credence. 

The confession of the scientist of a generation 
ago shook religion to its very foundation. 
Positive science was, and to a certain extent 
still is, in a statejof declared warfare with religion. 
Martin Luther (1483-1546) made man's faith 
independent of the authority of the Catholic 
Church, and Galileo (1564-1642) made man's 
reason independent of his faith. In cases where 
faith conflicts with reason, we are told by the 
scientist to give preference to the verdicts of 
reason. To the scientist, the claims of the 
natural sciences based upon inductive and 
mathematical reasoning are paramount. 

This controversy between religion and science 
began in Europe in the sixteenth century. In 
England, Francis Bacon (1561-1626) began the 
reformation of science and philosophy. Gior- 
dano Bruno (1548-1600) was tried and sentenced 
to be burnt alive by the Inquisition at Rome in 
1600 for believing in the Copernican theory of 
the heavens, and in 1633 Galileo was forced 
by the Church to retract his doctrine about the 
earth's motion on its axis. Ever since that day 
science has established her sovereignty over 
man's brain, and every day she is consolidating 
her empire by fresh conquests. Science has 
captured the outer forts of the brain, but she 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 43 

has not succeeded in reducing the inner sanc- 
tuary of faith. 

This controversy between faith and reason is 
not new in the history of philosophy; it was 
started on the banks of the Ganges and the 
Indus many thousands of years before the birth 
of Christ. When the true history of the philo- 
sophies of India comes to be written by her own 
sons it will open up a new horizon of thought 
before the wondering gaze of Western humanity, 
and in that fairyland of metaphysics the student 
will discover fresh landscapes whose existence 
was hitherto unguessed. An immense amount 
of pioneering work has already been done by a 
little band of Indian and European savants who 
have cut a path through the jungle, bridged over 
crevasses, and made the way smooth for yet 
unborn travellers. 

Still the road which leads through the forest 
of Sanscrit literature is overhung with a dense 
gloom and requires to be illumined. This work 
of illumination has to be done by none other 
than the children of ancient Ind, in whose veins 
flows the blood of the Rishis, and who have 
been nursed on the breast of the Mother of all 
religions. None but the Yogis of India under- 
stand the Indian Darsanas, for they are the 
perpetual guardians of the Wisdom of the East. 

These Yogis, Rishis, and Sannyasins are men 
who are free from all narrowness of religious 
fanaticism and national prejudices; they are 
God's companions — citizens of no state or 



44 BRAHMADARSANAM m 

empire, but of the universe. They stand out- 
side time and are the guides of humanity. 

Truth is one. We approach it through di- 
verse ways. Religion and science both acknow- 
ledge the unity of truth in the abstract; their 
difference consists, first in the enunciation of 
it, and secondly in the recognition of the instru- 
ments of knowledge. The enunciation of truth, 
given by scientists, religious mystics, and philo- 
sophers, differs according as their attention is 
fixed on (1) the visible phenomena, (2) the 
invisible cause of visible phenomena, or, again, 
(3) upon that which is unrelated either to the 
visible effect or the invisible cause. 

In the first case, Haeckel (1), whom I take to 
be the representative of modern scientific mon- 
ism, assumes the existence of a "soul-cell" to ac- 
count for the complex phenomena of intelligence 
and the physical organism. As an illustration 
of (2) take Sir Oliver Lodge, who assumes the 
existence of a Mind guiding the visible universe 
without either expending energy or coming into 
contact with the mechanical order of the uni- 
verse ; (3) Hegel, who conceived of a pure Being 
transcendently unrelated to Becoming. 

Thus the man of science is impressed with 
the perceptible order of phenomena, and to him 
truth means the co-ordination of either one phe- 
nomenon with another, or of a group of them 
with a higher generalisation. To arrive at this 
generalisation, he only needs induction, which 
in his hands has become the most powerful 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 45 

instrument of knowledge. Induction aims at 
perceiving similarity in the midst of the diverse 
phenomena of nature, and this aim is realised 
by a means of observation and experiment, 
guided by a kind of guessing at the conclusion 
which is called hypothesis. This method of 
investigation has proved so successful in the 
physical sciences that induction has come to 
be regarded as the magic key to Nature's secrets. 
At the same time the scientists accept nothing 
as truth unless it is verified, therefore they draw 
a line between verified and unverified hypoth- 
eses. For instance, the proposition, oxygen 
supports animal life, is a verified hypothesis. 
In fact, all the minor truths of chemistry and 
physics may be regarded as verified hypotheses, 
while all the grander conceptions of science may 
be regarded as unverified hypotheses. For in- 
stance, the nature of atoms, the existence and 
constitution of the ether, the nature of energy 
and the mystery of its transformation into heat, 
light, and motion, the origin of life and organism, 
— these are but a few among many examples of 
unverified hypotheses. 

The attitude of the scientific mind towards 
the foundations of scientific thought is one of 
indifference. The scientist is concerned with 
the relations of phenomena, not with the deter- 
mination of the value of that upon which such 
relations rest ; thus he does not think that the 
superstructure of science will fall to pieces if the 
ground under it is taken away. To him it 



46 BRAHMADARSANAM in 

matters not if ether, matter, force, life, and mind 
remain undefined ; for science will progress, he 
says, as long as scientific propositions are actu- 
ally verified to our satisfaction. He clings to 
perception and mathematical reasoning, i.e. a 
coordination of these two, continually checking 
the one by the other, a method which forms 
the essence of induction. 

Here we see the limitation of scientific reason- 
ing, which consists in giving preference to a 
part over the whole of human experience; why 
one part of experience should be favoured at 
the cost of all others is never explained. The 
scientist only believes in perception ; his belief 
in inference is only very partial. He has 
supreme faith in facts which can be demon- 
strated on the lecture table, but he never waxes 
enthusiastic over subjects which are inferred. 
A strict scientist does not really believe in ether, 
in atoms, or mind, or life ; and why ? Because 
he is not able to produce them by artificial means 
in his laboratory, and so he dismisses the ether 
with the remark that it is a suitable idea to 
work with ! What is most annoying is that the 
scientist denotes as "real" the contents of per- 
ception, and as "imaginary" the contents of 
other parts of experience. Viewed in this light, 
not only the fundamental conception of science 
itself, but also the root idea of religion and 
philosophy must be labelled as "imaginary." 
For according to this method of reasoning, not 
only are our conceptions of God and the im- 



'f^.i, 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 47 

mortality of the soul imaginary, but also time, 
space, causality, as well as matter, force, and 
the ether. 

It is clearly evident that no sane person will 
go so far as to deny everything that is not 
supported by the testimony of the senses ; for 
sensations cannot be explained unless we assume 
the existence of time, space, and causality, neither 
can these be explained unless we assume a con- 
scious soul ; after which the assumption of the 
relation of soul to an eternal duration and an 
eternal ground becomes a logical necessity. 

It is not my desire to belittle Western science, 
but what I do assert is that the scientist cannot 
claim that perception is the only source of 
knowledge, for that doctrine has been exploded 
by many philosophers, both in ancient and 
modern times. If universal truth be the aim 
of science, it follows that perception cannot be 
the sole source of knowledge, for the idea of 
the Universal is the contribution of reason. 
Science seeks to arrange facts in such a way as 
to conform to the universal standard, and so 
far as its efforts are turned in this direction, it 
cannot but confess that the universal comes from 
some other sphere than that of the senses, and 
if it is not in the senses it must be in the mind. 
If, on the other hand, the reality of the universal 
— of which the scientist is conscious within him- 
self — is denied, then by what instrument is it 
possible to test the truth of the results achieved 
by his investigations? Unless there is the 



48 BRAHMADARSANAM in 

assumption of a universal standard of truth in 
the mind of the professor of science as well as 
in that of his pupils, all science will be a chaos, 
the fantasy of a dream. 1 

This then gives us a clue as to how we should 
start in judging the contents of our experience. 
It shows that we have to accept the revelations 
of human consciousness in their entirety, or not 
at all. This consciousness is comprehensive 
enough to include our knowledge of the sensible 
as well as of the supersensible ; it includes the 
scientific, religious, and philosophical experi- 
ences of man. All these varied experiences can 
be fitted into each other and harmonized with 
the universal in the human, for if "that which 
is" be really one and indivisible, there cannot be 
any contradiction between one order of experi- 
ence and another ; all that happens must yield 
to a rational interpretation — this is the great 
teaching of the Vedanta. 

To the conscious soul all is experience, 
whether sensuous or supersensuous, positive or 
mystic, philosophic or logic. It is from this high 
altitude of the soul, as conscious and absolute, 
that we have to look upon the variety of experi- 
ences like different parts of a great palace in 
which each apartment bears some relation to 
the whole, and the plan of the whole cannot be 
properly understood without taking into con- 
sideration each separate room. 

The trend of modern scientific speculation is 
1 See Appendix. 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 49 

towards monism. (1) It has been said that 
ether is the source of all power, that matter and 
energy are only different vibrations of that im- 
ponderable and ubiquitous substance, and that 
heat, light, and electricity are manifestations of 
the same. (2) It has also been said that "life" 
is the source of all — the life that circulates in 
animal and vegetable organisms, and which, 
although different in quality from other forms 
of motion such as heat and light, etc., also 
possesses magnetic and electrical properties. 
Life may therefore be regarded as primal sub- 
stance, and motion as a secondary transforma- 
tion of it. (3) Mind has also been looked upon 
as the original substance, life as secondary, and 
force as a tertiary development of mind, for 
without mind it is not possible to conceive of 
either life or force. Will is prior to the muscular 
expenditure of energy. Mind is superior to life, 
because mind controls life and, through life, 
energy. It is, in fact, impossible to conceive 
of a primal, fundamental substance without the 
attributes of mind, life, and energy. 

This is what Kapila taught when he said that 
Mahat (Intelligence) is the first evolution of the 
Unmanifested, and that in Mahat, sattva pre- 
dominates over raja and raja over tama. This 
is scientific monism ; it is also the teaching of 
Herbert Spencer. 

All great philosophical scientists have recog- 
nised the existence of an original, universal sub- 
stance, out of which the universe has evolved, 



50 BRAHMADARSANAM in 

but the existence of this substance cannot be 
proved by perception, it can only be imagined. 
Without imagination, which in this sense is 
closely allied to intuition, or reason, it would not 
be possible to conjecture the existence of some- 
thing which is prior to all experience, and which 
is the soul of experience. It is this imagination 
— call it what you like — which gives to the 
religious man his God, to the philosopher his 
Absolute, and to the scientist his Substance, 
Energy, or Ether. In the Scriptures of all 
religions, intuition (i.e. imagination, reason) 
goes by the name of revelation ; in philosophy 
it appears as the synthetic activity of the soul, 
while in science it is called generalisation ; but 
in each case it is a vision — a faculty of the soul. 
When the soul moves on the plane of the In- 
driyas (senses), it sees the play of the cosmic law. 
As the soul rises higher, above the universe of 
change and motion, it sees the One whose name 
is Love, to dwell in Whom is to enjoy rest and 
peace. The religious experience of humanity 
is full of lessons to the students of psychology. 
The revelation that comes to us through the 
gateway of worship is much more substantial, 
much more real than that which comes through 
the avenue of the senses. 

This idea, that the same Reality is known 
to poets and philosophers, to theologians and 
scientists, under different names, was vividly 
realized by our ancient Rishis. In their yearn- 
ing to catch a glimpse of the One Eternal, they 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 51 

realised that the truth of inner perception cannot 
be uttered in words, hence each one in the 
endeavour to express Him will use the word 
which to his mind is the most closely associated 
with all transcending attributes : 

Ekam sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti. Agnim 
Yamam Matarisvanam ahuh. 

That which exists is One. Sages call it variously 
the Fire Substance, Providence, the breathing in 
Space. 1 

This is the earliest utterance of the unity of 
the Godhead in the history of mankind. All 
monotheistic religions and all monistic philo- 
sophies are mere ramifications of this central 
thought of the Rishis of the Vedas. This idea 
of One Truth was revealed to the mind of the 
ancient seers of India. 

It must be understood that the revelation of 
One God was anterior to the period of philo- 
sophical, theological, or scientific speculation. 
In those early days man's intuition was clearer 
than it is now; God breathed the Truth into 
the soul of the Rishis, as it has been beauti- 
fully expressed in the Rig Veda : 

Anit avatam svadhya tat ekam, tasmat ha anyat 
na parah kim chana asa. 

That One breathed breathlessly by Itself, other 
than It there nothing since has been. 2 

A true devotee does not require arguments 
for the existence of God, he trusts his intuition. 

1 Rig Veda, i. 164, 46. 2 Ibid. x. 129, 2. 



52 BRAHMADARSANAM in 

To him the knowledge of God is the breath of 
God. The reality of life consists in its loving 
dependence on God. How can the glory of the 
Beatific Vision be communicated to others 
through the medium of a string of words? 
Words yield meaning, but not Reality. 

The Vedic Age is the age of God-intuition. 
The many aspects of the one God, seen through 
the medium of many moods of many minds, are 
to be found in the hymns of the Sama and Rig 
Vedas. He has been called Prajapati, the Lord 
of all created beings ; Visva-Karman, the Maker 
of all ; Visvadeva, the God of all. The mono- 
theistic religion of the Vedic Rishis was followed 
by the monistic philosophy of the Rishis of the 
Upanishads. The early Vedic Rishis saw a 
personal God who is all-good and all-wise and 
all-powerful — "Who established the earth and 
the sky, who gives life and strength, Whose 
shadow is immortality and mortality, Who is 
the sole King of this breathing, slumbering 
world, Whose greatness is reflected in the snowy 
mountains and the seas, Who concealed the 
generating fire in the sap of the great waters, 
Who created heaven and earth, to Whom all 
men bow with trembling minds, over Whom the 
rising sun casts a mellow radiance, and Who is 
the life of bright gods and righteous men. ,, 
To this God the Rishis offered their homage 
and adoration. 

But philosophical inquiry into the nature of 
the One God — which appears to have taken 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 53 

place in the age succeeding that of monotheistic 
religion — led the Rishis of that time to what is 
called philosophical monism. In their search 
for God they travelled far into the regions 
of metaphysical thought; and they doubted 
whether the instrument of search was competent 
to yield any result. Nature is silent, she 
never speaks of her Lord. The human mind is 
dumb, it cannot tell us what makes it think. 
Where, then, is there any hope of knowing God ? 
Yet even while we doubt, hope spontaneously 
whispers in our ears, bringing a message, as it 
were, from an Unknown Friend in the space 
beyond. 

I cannot resist the temptation of translating 
a hymn, in order to show how the soul of the 
Rishi struggled to catch a glimpse of the Being 
who is beyond all thought and all expression. 
Many scholars have confessed their inability to 
comprehend this sublime hymn to the Absolute 
Being, for in it the Rishi tries to conceive of 
God as He is — apart from creation and apart 
from our conception of Him : 

In the beginning there was neither the Unreal nor the 
Real. 

Were there these spheres of light? Or the heavens 
beyond ? 

What? and by what enveloped? Where? and for 
whose enjoyment? 

Was there the primal Ether, the source and end of all 
that is — deep, infinite, immeasurable ? 

There was neither death nor aught deathless, nor dark- 
ness separate from light. 



54 BRAHMADARSANAM ra 

That One alone, unbreathing, lived ; with It the shadowy- 
veil subsisted (not Being nor non-Being) ; other 

than It there nothing was. 
Before the birth of all things this world lay sleeping in 

the womb of the Prime Cause, like gloom in darkness 

hidden, 
Each in the other merged, inseparate as sea from sea ; 
When by the potent majesty of Thought, pulsing with 

creative purpose, 
This single, self-poised Whole from out its shroud of 

nothingness broke forth. 
Ere yet all This arose, together with the One was 

Love; 
And there lay floating an inchoate mass — the seed of 

life and matter — 
Remnant of bygone creations, of hopes deferred and 

ends unrealised. 
(In the light of their wisdom, musing in their hearts, 

thus have the poets seen — loosing the Real from 

its bond, the Unreal.) 
Out from them all shot scintillating lines of rays, all- 
spreading, swift, like cloud-born fiery flashes ; 
Whither flamed they forth? Athwart, above, below? 
Some were enjoyers, seed-showerers and reapers of the 

harvest ; 
Some, of vast power and magnitude, fields of enjoyment ; 
While some again the substance were of sustenance, 

nourishing the fathers and the gods. 
In order first evolved, and higher, — those — these later 

formed and lower. 
Who then knows in truth ? Who here may utter it ? 
Whence streams This forth? This manifold of life and 

mind, of what composed ? and whither moving ? 
The Devas, by the Word made manifest, after this 

Bursting-forth shone into being; 
Who then shall know whence This arose ? 
Where had creation birth ? Whether or no upheld ? 
If He uphold it not — what mortal or immortal can ? 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 55 

He who is its highest Seer, in the supreme space beyond 

as in the inmost heart of all, 
— Self-luminous, its perfect Life and Joy and Essence — 
He surely knows the whence and whither of it all ; 
If He know not — what mortal or immortal knows ? * 

If we study this hymn, which must have 
been, I will not say composed, but revealed to 
the Rishi many thousands of years ago, we 
shall discover that it contains all the funda- 
mental elements of the religious, philosophic, 
and scientific consciousness of humanity. In the 
first place, it hints at the Absolute of philosophy, 
which, although beyond human thought, must 
be retained as a symbol of speech to denote 
the Highest, in order that the experience of 
the relative may be intelligible. In the second 
place, it assumes the existence, prior to creation, 
of a subtle substance (called by the Rishi 
"tamasa," darkness), which carried within itself 
the seed of living and inorganic matter. Lastly, 
the poet shows the right attitude towards a 
conception of the Cause of the universe, viz. the 
attitude of an open mind, when he says that 
philosophers can explain the process of evolu- 
tion, but not the origin of the universe. 

Apart from these considerations, this hymn 
strikes me as pointing to one supreme fact, viz. 
that within the soul there is a faculty which 
you may call intuition, or reason, or imagination 
(it is Pratisya in the original), which sees the 
universe as a whole, which sees the root cause 

1 Rig Veda, x. 11, 129. 



56 BRAHMADARSANAM m 

of the universe, and the Impersonal God. All 
the Darsanas have testified to the existence of 
this faculty, and the arguments which Indian 
philosophers have used — to prove the existence 
of God — appeal to us so forcibly because of the 
self-revelation of this faculty within ourselves. 
These arguments, which I am about to pass in 
review, only serve to confirm the information 
which we have already received from the light 
of our own souls. 

Kapila acknowledged the existence of two 
kinds of "free souls 5 ': the great and small; 
but he denied that the great souls would care 
to create a world ; he also denied the possibility 
of proving the existence of a creator of the 
universe. This defect in Kapila's philosophy 
was supplemented by Patanjali who taught a 
theistic philosophy also called Yoga, in which 
he says that there are different grades of souls, 
one class higher in majesty than the other. 
There is a class of souls called the Devas (bright 
ones) who are endowed with greater power and 
goodness than human beings. Above the Devas 
there are still higher beings, and the highest of 
all in power, goodness, knowledge, and holiness 
is God, who is the Teacher of all superhuman 
and human beings. Patanjali claims that this 
Divine Teacher can be seen in the light of our in- 
ward-turned thought, provided that all the 
impediments which stand betwixt God and man 
are removed. 

The idea of God as a Teacher has found an 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 57 

echo in the heart of every great thinker, from 
Plato downwards. Who is it who solves our 
doubts and perplexities ? Are we not conscious 
of an inner Monitor who chides us gently for 
our wayward thoughts and leads us to light and 
truth? Every great poet, philosopher, and 
scientist would confess that the truth which 
they teach they found within, in some way not 
known to themselves. 

Patanjali's argument for the existence of God 
is not inferential but introspective. It is based 
upon the fact of our inner development in the 
knowledge of the Divine. The Oversoul speaks 
to the soul, and those who seek for truth find 
the answer in their hearts. There is also another 
and more objective ground upon which this 
argument rests : Whence do the prophets and 
sages derive their knowledge, and where do they 
go after passing away from this life ? We must 
assume that after learning all that could be 
learnt on this earth, these great souls are still 
progressing in virtue and wisdom in a higher 
sphere of existence. They are there, sitting at 
the feet of masters who are greater than they, 
imbibing knowledge, the nature of which we 
are not able to conceive. Finally, the most 
chosen spirits, the super-archangels, those 
Kumar as, mind-born offspring of the Highest, 
are enjoying the glory of direct communion with 
God. Thus, according to Patanjali, God is the 
ne plus ultra, the highest height of perfection, 
the most glorious light of wisdom. 



58 BRAHMADARSANAM m 

Patanjali's idea of God is not that of a world- 
builder, nor yet a ruler, but rather an omniscient 
Spirit who is in touch with all grades of spirits. 

Next to Patanjali I should mention Narada, 
whose argument in favour of belief in the supreme 
God is drawn from man's love for Him, and His 
love for man. Patanjali also says that man 
attains God through love. Narada taught that 
the God-vision comes through complete self- 
surrender ; man cannot but love God, because 
He is the personification of love. He is also 
Rasa, the soul of delight ; He is Satyam Sivam 
Sundaram, the True, the Good, and the Beauti- 
ful ; it is the infinite beauty of God which at- 
tracts the soul of man. Narada defines Love as 
devotion to God, and he adds that Love is im- 
mortal. In order to understand the logic and 
the psychology of this argument, we must turn 
to the great philosopher Bharati Tirtha, author 
of the Panchadasi. 

It is a fact, he says, that we love ourselves. 
Nobody hates himself or herself; we all take 
care to preserve the health of our minds and 
bodies, and although there are people who wish 
to die, and some who commit suicide, that only 
proves that they are dissatisfied with their 
present condition, not that they do not love 
their own selves. They want to die because 
they think that by dying they can escape from 
misery or shame, and thereby save their souls 
from suffering. Self-love is the motive of all 
our actions. Why do we love ourselves? Or 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 59 

rather, what is it that we really love ? We love 
the beautiful; in the depths of our hearts we 
long to escape from ugliness and to be with the 
beautiful. This is true of the inner as of the 
outer life. We love the self because it is beauti- 
ful. A man's mind may be ugly, his body may 
be deformed, but still he loves the self which is 
hidden behind the ego. Now we have to con- 
sider why it is that we love the self ; we have 
just said that we love it because it is beautiful, 
but what does this beauty signify? It is not 
the beauty of colour, the beauty of harmony, 
for that is not the property of the soul. It is 
perfection, it is goodness, it is glory, it is Eternity. 
These are the qualities of the Self, and Love is 
immortal when it is given to this immortal Self. 
For, if you consider rightly, you will find that 
this self is the reflection of the Supreme Self, 
and in Yoga the reflection lapses to its original 
— to God ; it goes back to the palace of the 
Father, and is lighted up by His radiance. 

Such love is equal to knowledge of the Divine, 
for love tells of the object upon which it bestows 
its wealth. God is immeasurable, because my 
love for Him is immeasurable. The Vedantins 
say that love for God is God's love for Himself, 
because in true love there are no longer two, but 
only One, lost in Its own light. 

This is the philosophy upon which Narada's 
argument is based, and he concludes by saying : 
''Being loved, He soon manifests Himself and 
makes Himself felt by His worshippers." Love 



60 BRAHMADARSANAM in 

God through duty, through worship, love Him 
as His servant, as friend, as lover, as child, love 
Him through self-sacrifice and through identifi- 
cation. Let us not be separated from Him even 
for so short a time as the twinkling of an eye. 

The Rishis used to address God as "the Poet 
of the Beautiful" and "the Fountain of De- 
light," and this is the experience of all devotees, 
of all worshippers, and of all mystics. This is 
the universal testimony of religious conscious- 
ness, and is as valid as the generalisations of 
science, or the highest synthesis of philosophy. 

Narada says that God can be seen by man 
as an actual Presence when all thoughts, all 
words, and all deeds are given up unto Him, 
and when the least forgetfulness of Him makes 
one intensely miserable — for then love has 
begun. 

Gotama was the father of Indian logic. It 
is not known when he lived, but there is no doubt 
that he flourished thousands of years before 
Gautama the Buddha. His argument is well 
known among Indian thinkers : he said that 
it was impossible to prove the existence of the 
Deity by means of arguments based on percep- 
tion, inference, and revelation. Perception is 
useless, because God is without form and is 
therefore beyond the reach of the senses. In- 
ference cannot prove Him, because there is no 
universal middle term which can serve to link 
up the conclusion with the data of perception ; 
nor can revelation prove Him, because, accord- 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 61 

ing to Gotama, the Scriptures are not co-eternal 
with God. 

But if the three instruments of knowledge, 
viz. perception, inference, and revelation, are of 
no use, how then can we assert His existence? 
To this he replies that the world is an effect and 
must therefore have a cause, for nothing can be 
produced from nothing. God, in Whose Person 
are combined omnipotence and omniscience, is 
the cause of the world. There cannot be any 
question as to the cause of God, because He is 
Self -caused and Eternal. Why does God create ? 
Because of His compassion. Gotama has used 
another argument. Every act of man, he says, 
produces its result, not by itself but through 
the superintendence of God. For instance, how 
can the virtuous deeds of a man be rewarded, 
and the vicious ones punished, unless God con- 
joins the former with reward and the latter with 
punishment ? The effect of moral and immoral 
action must be guided by an All-holy and im- 
partial Judge. 

A law is made by a law-giver and enforced 
by a judge — so the moral law of retribution is 
enforced by the Divine Governor of the world. 
Gotama points out that all mankind agree in 
making a distinction between things real and 
eternal and things unreal and non-eternal. If 
this distinction were not observed there would 
be an end of truth and untruth. Gotama 
teaches that as God only is real and eternal, the 
eternal truth of all our thought and being, so 



62 BRAHMADARSANAM ra 

we must please Him by doing our duty, and then 
through His mercy we shall attain the salvation 
of our souls. 

There is reason to believe that Aristotle 
derived his idea of God as the Unmoved Mover 
of the Universe from Gotama. Like Gotama, 
he believes that God is not so much the builder 
as the governor of the world, because, according 
to both Gotama and Aristotle, atoms are eternal. 
Gotama's argument arises from an inner necessity 
of thought which compels him to see in Nature 
the working of an all-knowing Mind and Will. 

I will now conclude this lecture by explaining 
Sankara's arguments for the existence of God. 
Sankara is an uncompromising monist, for whom 
there exists but One Truth, One Reality. The 
world has no existence at all by the side of 
Brahman; but for all practical purposes we 
seemingly believe that it exists, and for creating 
the world a Creator is necessary. What is 
God's motive in creating the world ? We can- 
not ascribe any motive to God, for that would 
limit His self -completeness ; neither can we say 
that He had no motive, for then creation would 
be impossible. What can we say, then, about 
His motive in creation? Sankara's answer is 
that God created the world without any motive, 
purely for sport, just as a prince, or some rich 
man, who has all that he requires, undertakes 
to do something purely for sport and pastime. 
This is called lild, or the sport theory of creation. 

To the objection that God, as Creator of the 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 63 

world, is responsible for all the evil in it, Sankara 
answers that God does not act arbitrarily. He 
acts with a view to bring about the fulfilment of 
what each man has done in a previous birth; 
the world is a place where the soul passes through 
experiences according to its merits or demerits 
in a previous life. The body is a plant which 
grows up from the seed and dies — but not com- 
pletely, something is left behind, and the seed 
which is strewn in the soil of nescience brings 
forth another plant. This seed is the soul's 
Karma (works). The new birth varies according 
to the quality of the seed ; happiness and misery 
depend upon the form of birth. In the growth 
of the plant from the seed, God's influence may 
be compared to the influence of rain which causes 
the plant to shoot, while the outward growth 
depends upon atmospheric conditions, such as 
heat, light, moisture, etc. ; but the future of 
plants depends, not upon outward conditions, 
but upon the nature of the seed itself — the 
seed of wheat brings forth wheat, the seed of 
mustard brings forth mustard, and so on. 

This idea of God's relation to the world pre- 
supposes the assumption that the world, and 
the souls in it, are beginningless and endless. 
But the whole of this argument applies only to 
the world of Maya, i.e. the world of form and 
movement which only exists in what is called 
Avidya, ignorance. With the passing away of 
Avidya, nothing remains but true God. 

It is not possible to understand these argu- 



64 BRAHMADARSANAM ra 

ments of Patan jali, Gotama, Narada, and Sankara 
unless they are studied and compared with their 
teachings on all other subjects. I do not think 
they would have appealed to the minds of the 
last generation of men and women, whose under- 
standings were perverted by the philosophy of 
positivism, whose moral senses were blunted by 
the utilitarian school, and whose tastes were 
corrupted by the doctrine of realism in art, 
poetry, and literature. But at present there are 
signs of a new age, the heralding of another 
dawn, when we may hope to see the renaissance 
of Idealism in a return to faith and knowledge 
in religion, to self-renunciation and fraternity in 
morals, and to symbolism in art and literature. 
Already there are signs of these on the horizon 
of the West. Let us hope for great, noble, and 
mighty things of the soul. 

The Darsanas are eyes through which we see 
the Truth. All the arguments which have been 
advanced to prove the existence of the Deity 
are but so many attempts to express in words 
that which we all feel within to be the only 
Truth. One aspect of the One is expressed in 
science, while the other is embodied in the psalms 
and hymns of religion. In the Gitd we find the 
highest synthesis of religion and science; in it 
Sri Krishna teaches that the Presence of the 
Divine, of which the worshipper becomes con- 
scious in prayer, is none other than what is 
known as the Ultimate, or the Absolute, or the 
Unmanifested, in philosophy and science. 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 65 

Some men by meditation, using contemplation 
upon the Self, behold the Spirit within, others 
attain to that end by scientific and philosophical 
speculation, and others, again, by the practice of 
virtue and service of humanity. 

In the case of those who are not learned but 
have heard about Him from others, who cleave 
unto Him and worship Him ; even these, if assidu- 
ous only upon tradition and attentive to hearing 
the Scriptures, — even these pass beyond the gulf of 
death. 1 

I think that the aim of science is to become 
philosophy, the aim of philosophy is to become 
religion, the aim of religion is to seek God, and 
thus the aim of humanity is to become Divine. 
The mind of man is endeavouring to find its 
source through many-sided activities and specula- 
tions — all of which are different ways of worship. 

The progress of the soul has been beautifully 
illustrated by Bhagavan Ramakrishna in a 
parable. A poor man once met a Sannyasin and 
asked him where he could get some wood. The 
Sannyasin replied," Go ahead !" The man acted 
accordingly, and found some dry wood which he 
gathered together, sold in the market, and got 
some money. After some time he remembered 
the Sannyasin's advice and went out again, but 
this time a little farther into the depths of the 
forest, and there he discovered an iron mine : 
he soon became very rich by selling iron ore. 
After a little while he thought he would go a 

1 Bhagavad Gitd, xiii. 24, 25. 



66 BRAHMADARSANAM in 

little farther on the other side of the hill and 
see what he could find there. The result of this 
expedition was the discovery of a gold mine. 
After the lapse of many years he thought that 
he would try again and discover something yet 
more precious. He did so; the result was a 
diamond mine, and he became a millionaire. 

This is also the case with the soul. Man's 
first curiosity is to know the secrets of nature, 
and the result of this investigation is science. 
Then he begins to wonder about his own mind — 
the knowing power which he has within himself 
— and he discovers philosophy. Very soon he 
becomes dissatisfied, both with science and with 
philosophy, which appear to his advanced mind 
as mere toys. Then it is that he longs to dis- 
cover his soul. Religion is knowledge of the 
soul ; and here he rests, for the real soul is the 
real God. Nothing but the true Reality can 
give us rest and peace. 

This God-knowledge is man's salvation. 
Every day science is progressing towards God- 
knowledge. The visions of the ancient Rishis — 
the prophets of India — have been re-echoed in 
the works of Wordsworth, Tennyson, Browning, 
Whitman, and Edward Carpenter. The Akasa 
and Agni of the Vedas have risen again from the 
ashes of time and have been made familiar to 
us as Ether and Electricity by Thompson and 
Crookes. The recent utterances of Sir Oliver 
Lodge on "Life as a guiding principle" carry us 
back to the ancient Indian conception of Prana. 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 67 

The animating principle or the vital spark 
within the physiology of animals possesses so 
many wonderful characteristics that we can in 
no way understand its function in terms of 
matter and force. The central idea of life is 
forethought, which Lodge happily calls "guid- 
ance." By its very nature life seeks to guide 
and control, not only its immediate envelope, 
the body, but also its greater environment, 
the powers of nature. It can by its own nature 
produce as much change on matter (and this 
for its own sake) as sunlight on a photographic 
plate, or radium emanation on gas. 

This conception of life as a guiding principle 
and not as a physical force was understood many 
centuries ago by the Rishis, as will be seen from 
the following passage : 

Sa yatha prayogya acharane yukta ebam eba 
yam asmin sarire prano yuktah. 

As an agent behaves for him who appoints him, 
so life guides the psycho-physical organism. 1 

Life in this passage is not considered as a 
physical force, but as a directing agency guiding 
the material forces of the body, as will be seen 
from Sankara's commentary, where he remarks 
"that as a car is drawn by horses or by oxen, or 
as a superintendent, appointed by a king, leads 
the various servants of the state, so life controls 
the functions of the senses and organs, and 
guides them to enjoy the results of an action." 

1 Upanishad, Chhdndogya, viii. 12, 3. 



68 BRAHMADARSANAM ra 

The new world is coming round to the wisdom 
of the old. Science is no longer atheistic as it is 
popularly believed to be by those who have not 
kept themselves in touch with the changed out- 
look of modern scientific thought. No one 
realises more the immensity of the Power behind 
nature, or feels more the inadequacy of thought 
and language to express it, than does the true 
scientist. No one feels the humiliation of the 
pride of intellect more than did that greatest 
representative of science in our era, Sir Isaac 
Newton, when he said : "I have been but as a 
child playing on the seashore ; now finding some 
pebble rather more polished, and now some shell 
rather more agreeably variegated than another, 
while the immense ocean of truth extended it- 
self unexplored before me." 

The real scientist does not deny God although 
he is silent about Him. 

Once a philosopher went to see a mystic. 
They sat side by side without speaking, and 
when they parted the mystic said to the philo- 
sopher, "I feel all you think," and the philo- 
sopher replied, "I cannot even think all that 
you feel." 

It is recorded that on one occasion Ruskin 
paid a visit to Carlyle, and they spent the whole 
afternoon together without exchanging a single 
word, yet on parting the two friends shook one 
another warmly by the hand, saying, "What 
a glorious afternoon we have spent together !" 

We can listen to God in silence. One of His 



in THEISM: GOD AND MAN 69 

names in Sanscrit is Nirab, the Silent. And it 
sometimes seems to me, when I watch the 
heavens in the silence of the night, as if the stars, 
in the profound silence of space, were listening 
to the eternal music of the Divine. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Narada Bhakti Sutra. 

Panchadasi, i. 8-13, xii. 23-30. 

Tarkasamgraha, xvii. 

Nyaya Sutra. 

Brahma Sutra, i. 4, 23-27. 

Sariraka, p. 490. 

Ramkrishna Kathamrta (translated as "The Gospel of 

Sri Ramakrishna"). 
Chhandogya Upanishad. 
Sir Oliver Lodge's Works, especially "Life and Matter/' 

p. 134. 
Atharva Veda, ii. 2-24, 1-16. 
Sandilya Sutra. 
Rig Veda, x. 82, 3 ; x. 129, 1 ; i. 59, 1 ; iii. 53, 8 ; i. 168, 

20 ; x. 72, 5 ; v. 62, 8 ; i. 89, 10 ; x. 90, 6 ; iii. 17, 4 ) 

vi. 7, 4; vii. 4, 6; i. 31, 7; vi. 9, 5-6; vi. 8, 3; vi. 

7,7; iii. 20, 4. 



IV 

MONISM: MAN AS ASPECT OF THE 

DIVINE 

Aspects of consciousness — Religious systems without a God — 
Philosophy of relation — Ramanuja's qualified monism. 

The function of philosophy, strictly speaking, 
is the formulation of the relation between con- 
sciousness and the object presented to it. What 
consciousness is in itself is indescribable, for 
the subject of consciousness cannot know itself 
without objectification. In the Upanishads 
the personal aspect of consciousness has been 
named Jnata, or the knower, one who knows ; 
while the non-personal aspect is called Jneya, 
the object known ; and the middle term — that 
which connects Jnata (subject) with Jneya 
(object) — is termed Jnana, knowledge. The 
field of consciousness is trisected into (1) the 
knowing mind, (2) the presentation, and (3) the 
process of knowing. To use an illustration from 
the physical universe : the picture on the wall is 
the Jneya (presentation), the light in the room 
is the Jnana (knowledge), and my eyes are the 

70 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 71 

counterpart of Jnata (knower) . Of these three, 
the eyes can see the picture and the light, but 
the eyes cannot see themselves. Similarly, if 
you apply this imagery to the mind, you will 
understand that consciousness can comprehend 
the presentation (Jneya) as well as the middle 
term (Jnana), but not the Jnata (subject). As 
Yajnavalkya says, "How can you see the seer 
of seeing, how can you hear the hearer of hearing, 
how can you understand the understander of 
understanding?" The nature of the knower 
is unintelligible. At the same time we can 
predicate two attributes : first, that it exists, 
and secondly, that its nature is knowledge. The 
most mysterious point about the subject is that, 
as Sankara says, it can know other things, but 
it cannot make itself the object of its own know- 
ledge. I, who know, can never be my object, 
for in that case it ceases to be of the nature of 
the subject. Hence the Rishis used to say, 
"It is different from what is known. It is also 
beyond what is not known." This principle of 
consciousness, this knower, this seer, is also 
called Aksharam, the Imperishable. 

'This Imperishable is seeing, not seen; 
hearing, not heard ; understanding, not under- 
stood; knowing, not known; for outside It, 
there is no seer ; outside It, there is no hearer ; 
outside It, there is none with understanding; 
outside It, there is none with knowledge. He 
who knows not this Imperishable, O Gargi, is 
miserable." This was taught to Gargi, the 



72 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

daughter of Vacaknu, by Yajnavalkya. This is 
Aksharam ; this Imperishable is the alpha and 
omega of the Upanishads. Let us call it the 
consciousness of the Absolute. 

In the language of the Chhandogya Upani- 
shad, this is to be sought in the Dahar Akasa — 
in the inner space within the lotus chamber of 
the heart. Like a man standing on a piece of 
ground under which a treasure lies buried, but 
ignorant of what is hidden there, so the intellect 
is unconscious of this Imperishable upon which 
it stands. 

Descartes had a faint glimpse of this Aksha- 
ram when he uttered the profound philosophical 
principle, Cogito ergo sum, "I think, therefore 
I exist." This is also what Spinoza meant by 
Being — single, infinite, and beyond which there 
is no being — something eternal and infinite — 
love which would fill the mind with joy and joy 
alone. This is also the Neo-Platonic conception 
of God as the Absolute One, Unity beyond all 
difference, to which no predicates can be at- 
tached, of which nothing can be affirmed or ex- 
pressed. He is neither consciousness nor uncon- 
sciousness, neither freedom nor unfreedom, for 
all such opposites pertain to the realm of finite 
things. He gives life, yet Himself lives not, He 
is all and the negation of all. 

Even when we name Him "the One" we 
must exclude any thought of numerical unity, 
for that contains the idea of multiplicity. Only 
by negation can we define Him. He is in- 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 73 

expressible, for all speech names some definite 
thing. He is incomprehensible, for all thought 
distinguishes between itself and its objects. If 
we would grasp Him, it is only by an act of 
intuition in which the mind rises above thought 
and becomes one with its object. This is the 
teaching of Plotinus. 

This consciousness of the Absolute is beyond 
the sphere of psychology, cosmology, and episte- 
mology, though it is the common ground of them 
all as well as that of religion, ethics, and the 
natural sciences ; for theAbsolute cannot be 
proved, as it is the basis (Asraya) of the act of 
proving. Consequently it is self-evident and 
true beyond all proof. Neither can it be denied : 
that which is foreign to our nature can be denied, 
but that which is our own being cannot be 
denied. As Sankara says: "When it is said, 
it is I who now know what at present exists, it 
is I who knew the past, it is I who will know the 
future, it is implied in these words that even 
when the object of knowledge alters, the knower 
does not alter — for he is in the past, present, 
and future, for his essence is eternally present" 
(sarvada vartamana svabhavatvad) . Or, as the 
Taittiriya Upanishad says : 

He is but non-existent who knows Brahman as non- 
existent, 

He who knows Brahman as Existent becomes himself 
by this Existent. 

The Absolute becomes the Personal God of 
religion. Our religious experience is not original, 



74 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

but is derived from the Self-evident Absolute. 
God, as the expression is understood by the 
worshipper, is a Presence which is objective to 
him. The word prayer implies a presentation 
of love or petition to another who is higher and 
greater. Just as without self-cognition there 
cannot be the cognition of the world, so without 
the consciousness of the Absolute Brahman 
there cannot be any knowledge of the Isvara, or 
Personal God. 

As Kapila derives Mahat (the great Under- 
standing) from Avyakta (the Unmanif ested) by 
a process of metaphysical dialectic, so the Rishis 
of the Vedas got the knowledge of Isvara from 
their intuition of Brahman. It shows the transi- 
tion of the mind from the Universal to the 
Individual, from Being to Becoming, from that 
which is to that which does, and from theoretical 
knowledge to practical worship. In the Upani- 
shads, the Absolute Brahman is described as 
without differences (visesha), attributes (guna), 
limitations (upadhi), and forms (akara). This 
Absolute stands opposed to the demands of our 
empirical knowledge as well as of exoteric 
theology. Empirical knowledge concerns itself 
with the phenomenal universe, and exoteric 
theology busies itself with worship (upasana), 
and the relation of God to the act of creation, 
by bringing the Godhead under an intelligible 
form. From this you must not conclude that 
the Rishis teach the existence of two Gods — one 
Absolute and the other relative, one attribute- 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 75 

less and the other with attributes, one im- 
personal and the other personal. No, far from 
it, they are never tired of emphasising the 
existence of the one and only God, so much so 
that they say that God is the only true Reality, 
and that beside Him there is nothing else to 
which reality can be ascribed, not even man or 
nature. 

For what reason, then, do they make a dis- 
tinction ? The distinction is inevitable for three 
reasons : (1) owing to the construction of human 
intelligence ; (2) owing to the different levels of 
spiritual perception in different persons; and 
(3) on account of the nature of human language 
through which thought and experience are forced 
to express themselves. 

In a community of perfect beings, endowed 
with perfect understanding, God, who is the 
perfection of truth, would appear to be the 
same. To the free beings (Mukta purushas) 
who are sometimes called the impersonal souls 
(Amanava purushas) who do not require the aid 
of language to express their feelings — to them 
the distinction between the Absolute and the 
relative would be meaningless. But on our 
plane, so long as there exists diversity of thought, 
and diversity of inclination and action, the Ideal, 
revealed in our experiences, will emerge shaped 
and coloured by the idiosyncrasies of our speech, 
our brains, our standpoints, and the culture of 
the age in which we live. Thus we find that 
the philosophic-minded Yajnavalkya expressed 



76 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

his intuition by Aksharam (the negation of all 
that changes), by Amritam (the negation of 
all that dies), and the worshipping heart of 
Ramanuja called Him the embodiment of all 
good and perfect qualities (kalyangunakara, 
niravadya), and the scientific brain of Kapila 
conceived Him as the Avyakta (Unmanifested 
source of Nature) . Consciousness, when it is in 
itself, perceives its identity with the Absolute. 
There is then no distinction between subject and 
object ; but when it is individualised, it becomes 
trisected into subject, knowledge, and object. 
In its state of individuality it stands confronted 
by Creator and creation, the latter dependent 
on the former. Religious experience is essenti- 
ally triangular — perfect God, imperfect man, 
and the offerings of worship. 

What are the contents of religious conscious- 
ness? In order to examine the contents of 
religious consciousness, we must analyse the 
condition of our minds when we are in a worship- 
ping mood. In order to draw a scientific con- 
clusion we must examine all varieties of religious 
experience among the worshippers of all nations. 
For this purpose it will be convenient to examine 
three classes of minds : 

(1) Those who meditate on the essential iden- 
tity of the Eternal Spirit with the finite soul. 

(2) Those who recognise the similarity in 
essence of God and man, at the same time 
noticing a difference between the two in quality, 
in power and holiness ; and 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 77 

(3) Those who believe that there is no point 
of similarity between God and man, and who pray 
to God for protection, worldly prosperity, etc. 

These three classes are known in India as the 
Advaitins, the Visistadvaitins, and the Dvaitins. 
The experience of the Advaitins, at the time of 
worship, is expressed by such words as profound 
quiet, surpassing peace, and eternal joy. They 
come out from the sanctuary of the soul with 
faces shining with the light of peace. The 
experience of the Visistadvaitins is of the 
emotional character of those who have met 
their Beloved, to whom worship implies the 
exchange of loving greetings. The experience 
of the Dvaitins is like that of a child when he 
gets the toy he wants from his mother; their 
worship is purely egoistic, prompted by the 
wants of their mortal nature, and they are 
satisfied when these are fulfilled. In the case 
of the first, God appears as an intuitive flash of 
Truth ; in the second, as a lovable Personality ; 
and in the third, as a benefactor, or provider. 
But nowhere does He emerge in the religious 
consciousness of man in the role of creator. 

The idea of God as the creator of the universe 
finds no support either from the religious ex- 
perience of seers, saints, or mystics, nor yet from 
philosophy and science. Meister Eckhart says 
the Godhead does not work, neither does it 
create. It is evident that we cannot regard 
"Nature, red in tooth and claw,' 9 as the handi- 
work of God, for Nature is full of blemishes, 



78 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

neither would the supposition explain the 
entrance of pain and evil into the world. The 
idea of God as creator belongs, properly speak- 
ing, not to actual worship and communion 
(upasana), but to exoteric theology, popular 
mythology, and pictorial cosmology. We see 
God only in spirit, never in nature ; those who 
try to approach Him by way of Nature fail to 
find Him and turn agnostic. This is the psycho- 
logy of modern agnosticism. To us, God is a 
Presence, an influence, an intuition, and so far 
religious experience is valid. The experience of 
Upakosala, who realised Him in worship, con- 
firms this : 

"Brahman is Life, Brahman is joy, Brahman 
is amplitude. He is love's treasure, for He is a 
treasure of what is dear, who know this. He is 
the Prince of Love, the Herald of Love ; He is 
a Prince of Radiance." 

These words point to "that mind of mind," 
"the apple of the eye," to "that Immense, a 
Unity high above space, unchanging, great, and 
the Immortal." 

If thou art in search of Life's wisdom meditate upon 

Him: 
Use not many words, they are but weariness of mind. 1 

The effect of such God-vision on the life and 
conduct is marvellous. No man who has not 
seen God in his self is moral. Spiritual ex- 
perience stamps its glory on character. He who 

1 Upanishads. 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 79 

has seen God is "calm, subdued, resigned, 
patient, and collected ; in his own Self only he 
beholds God — he beholds all as God ; evil doth 
not overcome him, he burns all evil ; free from 
evil, free from passion and free from doubt, he 
becomes a Brahmana — he whose world is the 
Brahman." 

Brahman, God, and Moral Ideal are the 
different names, aspects, modes of the same 
Truth, the reality of which is felt in different 
states of the mind. The Self of man is the 
Whole — resembling concentric circles — the 
outermost of which is the Brahma-conscious- 
ness (Absolute), while the innermost is the con- 
sciousness of the Moral Ideal, and between the 
two the consciousness of the Personal God. 




The Self is an ever- widening circle containing 
layers of consciousness — space within space — 
the difference between one space and another 
being only a matter of conventional thought. 
These spaces are sometimes described as super- 



80 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

consciousness, normal consciousness, and sub- 
consciousness, but these terms are misleading 
because they imply physical and spatial ideas of 
above and below, inner and outer, which do not 
exist in the case of the spirit. In the super- 
conscious state, the Self sees the identity of its 
Being with Perfection, of Truth with Reality, 
and of Intelligence with Joy. But in the state 
of God-consciousness, one self is in a special 
attitude towards another Self — i.e. God. The 
attitude is one of humility, of love, of adoration. 
Moral consciousness is an active state of the will, 
guided by the inner light of conscience. 

The Rishis gave the name of Rita (Right) to 
the notion of eternal righteousness. The moral 
law regulates the destiny of souls on their 
journey through the world of name and form. 
Man's activity in the moral sphere is guided by 
the idea of freedom. In the sphere of God there 
is no activity; in meditation we only listen to 
the voice of God; in Samadhi, all is silent. 
Worship exalts the soul above activity, and 
Samadhi exalts her above both activity and 
passivity. 

You can understand what I mean by Samadhi 
or Absolute Consciousness, in the light of the 
teaching of St. Dionysius who said, "God is 
nothing," when these words are placed by the 
side of those of St. Augustine when he said, 
"God is everything." The words of Dionysius 
signify that in the Absolute Consciousness the 
soul becomes God and sees nothing in her 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 81 

presence. The words of Augustine mean that 
the only Reality is God, and nothing else that 
man imagines belongs to God. So that it 
amounts to this : that what we, in our ignorance, 
think of as the trinity of Absolute, God, and 
Ideal, is but one, in which the three merge and 
disappear. This is the state of Mukti, Libera- 
tion, or Perfection, in which we can say with 
David : 

For with thee is the fountain of life : 
In thy light shall we see light. 1 

Anti-theistic systems of philosophy have not 
been successful in destroying man's instinctive 
desire to worship. Many teachers, both ancient 
and modern, have attempted to construct re- 
ligion without God, but what was the result? 
The followers of these Godless religions have 
ended by worshipping heroes, saints, reformers, 
generals, kings, authors, poets, and the ghosts 
of their ancestors. I would ask you to read the 
history of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Positiv- 
ism, and observe the effect they produced upon 
their votaries. Buddha (557-477 B.C.) taught 
his disciples not to believe in the existence of 
God, of the soul, and of eternity. It is a fact 
that those who did so believe were regarded as 
heretics by his followers. Buddhism knows 
neither metaphysics nor theology; Buddha 
taught that man can be perfect by practising 
virtue. But I must say that if there ever was 

1 Psalm xxxvi. 9. 



82 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

a religion which can be said to be perfect without 
God, it is Buddhism — as it was taught by Lord 
Buddha. Never were such words of wisdom 
uttered comparable to those which Buddha, on 
his last day, addressed to Ananda : 

Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto your- 
selves. Be ye a refuge to yourselves. Betake your- 
selves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the 
truth as your lamp. Hold fast to the truth as a 
refuge. Look not for refuge in any other except 
yourselves; and whoever, Ananda, either now, or 
after I am gone, shall act thus, it is they only among 
my recluses who shall reach the very highest height, 
and even they must be willing to learn. 

In these words no reference is made to God, 
or to the need for worship, and what was the 
result ? After Buddha attained Nirvana he was 
deified. Not only that, but the later Buddhists 
formed a theory about Arahats and Bodhisats 
who were held up to the mass of the people as 
objects of worship. Some of these Arahats were 
taken from the legends of early Buddhism, but 
the vast majority were the offspring of the 
imagination of later Buddhist writers. 

In many countries the people remained 
Buddhists in name only, their actual mode of 
living being as far removed from the Four Truths 
or the Noble Eightfold Path as heaven is from 
hell. To-day we know that the Buddhism of 
Tibet is the very opposite of Buddha's Buddhism. 

Jainism affords another example of religion 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 83 

without God. The founder of the Jain religion 
was Mahavir, who, according to Jaina tradition, 
was born 599 and died 527 b.c. 

The Jains believe in the final liberation of 
the soul, but they worship the Tirthankars, who 
are believed to be perfected souls. Jainism 
resembles Buddhism in being a highly ethical 
religion ; the Jains surpassed even the Buddhists 
in their humane treatment of animals, including 
insects. Yet in spite of all that is universally 
regarded as beautiful and noble in their religion, 
the Jains fail to believe in God. 

In China, Confucius (550 B.C.) taught a form 
of religion which is much less humanitarian 
than Jainism, and certainly infinitely inferior to 
Buddhism in regard to metaphysics. It became 
the state religion. Confucius is the Kautillya 
of China. His eye was fixed upon a sound 
political organisation of the country upon a 
foundation of utilitarian moral maxims. His 
train of thought is positivisticand ultra-practical. 
It is recorded in the Book of Changes that we 
mortals have only to understand the knowable 
phenomena and to leave alone the unknowable 
noumena. It is, however, not true, as many 
suppose, that Confucius himself was an atheist. 
He taught faith in one God, but the monotheism 
of Confucius has unfortunately been grossly 
ignored by his followers. Confucius speaks 
of "T'ien" or "Heaven," of "Ming" or 
"Heavenly Destiny," and of "Taichi" or the 
"Great Ultimate," but he never enters very 



84 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

deeply into the metaphysics of the invisible and 
the mysterious. Dualism of the physical and 
moral order is the keynote of the Li Chang 
(Book of Changes). Man's highest duty is to 
conform to these two contrasting principles of 
nature. Life, according to Confucius, attains 
its perfection by keeping time with the music 
of the moral and the physical spheres. Man 
need not seek to penetrate into the mysteries of 
the transcendental order which apparently has 
no influence upon the details of his daily life. 
Man is more than enough for himself and need 
not indulge in vain, imaginary philosophy. 

European civilisation of to-day is moving on 
the lines laid down by Confucius more than 
twenty-four centuries ago, but this reflection is 
by way of digression. What I want to point 
out is that the purely utilitarian teaching of 
Confucius left a gap in the minds of his followers 
which, in the course of ages, came to be filled up 
by the ancestor-worship of primitive Chinese 
mythology; while the more philosophically 
minded took to the universalism of Buddha and 
the idealism of Laotze. 

Now to cite a European parallel. Auguste 
Comte taught what is called Positivism, or the 
religion of humanity, a cult which is also opposed 
to Theism. You doubtless know Comte's theory 
of the three stages through which human thought 
has passed : the theological stage of primitive 
times, the metaphysical stage of the Middle 
Ages, and the positive or scientific stage of 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 85 

modern times. This, according to Comte, is a 
true account of the progress of human society. 
These stages of progress are successive, so that 
we may expect to see throughout history the 
disappearance of one stage followed by the re- 
appearance of another; but is this the case? 
Is it true that our age, which Comte calls 
scientific, is devoid of philosophy and religion ? 

On the contrary, we find that religion, meta- 
physics, and science are flourishing side by side, 
each being rectified and enriched and revitalised 
by the other. These three instruments of 
progress have been present more or less in all 
periods of history; they are the three most 
vital needs of the soul, because knowledge is the 
essence of the soul, and the soul's craving for 
knowledge is satisfied through religion, meta- 
physics, and science, while Comte's famous pre- 
diction about the extinction of the religious 
sentiment *was falsified by himself, when in the 
last period of his life he actually founded a new 
religion, which, to say the least, is no improve- 
ment upon the ecclesiastical government and 
Church practices of the Roman Catholics. The 
Positivists can produce a calendar of saints 
with sacred relics and annual festivals, with 
a catechism for their church use and a High 
Priest no less authoritative than the Pope of 
Rome. 

I was once invited by a Positivist High Priest 
to attend his church in London. There I saw 
the images of many historical persons, such as 



86 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, and others. A 
prayer was addressed to humanity. The bust 
of Comte was garlanded. In fact, I found a 
lady kneeling down at the feet of Comte's statue, 
just as a Catholic would kneel at the feet of 
Jesus. Even a military captain, like Csesar, has 
his worshippers among the gentle sheep of 
Comte's fold ! I do not want to condemn the 
worship of ancestral shades or of the great men 
of history; far be it from me to belittle the 
gentle humanity of Buddha and Mahavir, the 
stern common-sense of Confucius, and the pro- 
found love of truth which characterised every- 
thing that Comte wrote. But I certainly will 
say that the soul of man is not so one-sided or 
so narrow as these philosophers would have us 
believe. The soul of man is vast enough to 
embrace all that is great and beautiful and 
noble. The capacity of the soul is infinite, and 
"as in one sky the silver stars all sit" (Al Koran) 
so philosophy, religion, and science may all be 
included within it. The best religion assimi- 
lates, and does not destroy. Like a symphony 
that is composed of many notes blended together 
in the bond of harmony, so the man who aspires 
after perfection assimilates — turns into the very 
substance of his inner nature — all the most 
sublime elements which are present in the head 
and the heart and the soul of man. One-sided- 
ness is the bane of some minds, and also of some 
periods of history. As you cannot suppress the 
functioning of the bodily organs without making 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 87 

yourself ill, so it is impossible to suppress one 
part of consciousness without bringing disaster 
upon your soul. Our age is vitiated by an 
unbelief which is the plague of the soul; this 
unbelief in the Invisible is counterbalanced by a 
belief in the powers of matter, and there are 
quite a large number of men and women to be 
found in every country who are more ready to 
believe in the reality of a pin than in the reality 
of God or of their own souls. This kind of 
materialism has recently assumed another form. 
I refer to Spiritism. The object of Spiritists is 
to make sure of survival after bodily death. 
There cannot be any question of survival, 
because the soul is everlasting; it is mere 
begging the question. I exist at this moment, 
and this proves that I did exist a minute ago. 
The fact of my existence now paves the way 
to understanding that I am going to exist in 
the minute to come. This minute flows into 
the next minute as it arose out of the last. Time 
is a flux of three moments — past, present, and 
future. The expression "present moment" 
has no sense unless it is linked up with a "past 
moment" and a "future moment." The soul 
which is aware of the flux of time at once co- 
exists with, and transcends time. It co-exists 
with time just as my finger co-exists with the 
pen which it holds ; and it transcends time, just 
as my finger can exist without the pen which 
it holds. The soul watches the flow of time 
so long as she is in the state of a wanderer 



88 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

(Samsara), but when she ceases to watch the 
flow of time she exists within the circle of her 
own eternity. 1 

Spiritist seances can never prove either the 
existence of or the nature of the soul, any more 
than chemical analysis can prove the existence 
of the ultimate atoms — which are by scientists 
imagined to exist. As "life" eludes the grasp 
of the physiologist, as "ether" escapes the 
reach of all the instruments with which the 
laboratory of the physicist is provided, so the 
continuous existence of the spirit cannot be 
satisfactorily established by seances and medi- 
umship. As the Rishi said long ago : 

Mind is beyond the comprehension of the senses, 
the ego is beyond that of the mind, the understand- 
ing (Mahat) is beyond that of the ego, the substance 
of the Cosmos (Prakriti) is beyond that of the 
understanding, and the soul (Purusha) is beyond 
the comprehension of the substance of the Cosmos; 
knowing this soul, men become immortal. 2 

The soul is not a shadow, neither is it a 
bubble. It is at present in this body, and when 
this body sleeps, it wakes up under another sky, 
luminous with the glory of other suns and other 
stars. There are other and surer ways of know- 
ing the imperishability of the soul than the 
prophets of our age would have us believe. 
Theosophists, occultists, psychists, and spiritists 
have long pursued the phantom mirage which 

1 See Appendix. 2 Katha Upanishad. 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 89 

has been surnamed "spirit," and is supposed to 
perform the duty of the postman and the mail- 
runner; but spirits are not postal messengers, 
they have neither the inclination nor the instru- 
ments to perform this duty. 

It is a curious fact of history that whenever 
people lose sight of the one true God, they invent 
minor gods and fall at their feet; the present 
age is no exception to this rule. Dame Europa 
worships those who minister to her pleasures 
and her comfort, and among her numerous gods 
are numbered the cook, the tailor, the brewer, 
the musician, the actress, the engineer, the 
general, and the banker. The scientist is the 
Jupiter of this beautiful Pantheon of modern 
civilisation. 

The Bible says, "I am the Lord thy God, 
thou shalt have none other gods but me." How 
can you consistently worship these many gods ? 
The agnostic, according to popular fancy, leads 
a life of constant God-denial, but let us try to 
understand the psychology of his mind. In 
order to do this, we must first understand the 
workings of our own minds. The mind is con- 
stantly relationing, i.e. placing itself in relation 
to some object; this relation may be one of 
agreement or of disagreement. When the mind 
proceeds towards the object it is establishing 
the relation of agreement ; but when it recedes 
from its object, it is establishing a relation of 
disagreement. Let me illustrate this. When 
you think of a person as your friend, your mind 



90 BRAHMADARSANAM rv 

» 

is advancing towards him, and you are in a 
relation of agreement with him; but if you 
think of a person as your enemy, your mind is 
inclined to run away from him, and you are in 
a relation of non-agreement with him. Whether 
you are in agreement or non-agreement, you are 
always related to the person. Similarly the 
theist is in agreement and the agnostic in dis- 
agreement with God ; but whether in agreement 
or in disagreement, both of them are related to 
God ; the former establishes by owning, the latter 
by disowning. For disowning does not imply 
denial of existence. Just as you may own or 
disown a person for your friend, but cannot deny 
his existence, so although a man may not believe 
in God, yet he cannot deny His existence ; and 
as the same person may be your friend at one 
time and your enemy later, so we, in one period 
of our evolution, may be theists, and at another 
time agnostics. You can escape from your 
enemy, but you cannot escape from the memory 
of him. In the same way the agnostic cannot 
escape from the memory of God, for does he not 
delight in refuting the arguments of the theist ? * 
In the course of their lives nearly all men and 
women pass through the three stages of belief, 
indifference, and non-belief. Some begin life 
with belief in God, pass through a stage of in- 
difference, and end with disbelief. Others begin 
with indifference, pass through the bitterness of 
unbelief, and end with a living faith in God. 

1 See Appendix, 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 91 

It is said that Goethe lived as an agnostic for 
many years of his life, but that he afterwards 
found it impossible to exist without loving God. 
Tolstoi is reported to have been tormented with 
doubts in his youth, but he died a holy man. 
The agnostic opposes, not God, but ignorance 
of God, because many believe without knowing 
Him. This ignorant faith is what the agnostic 
does not understand. 

The life of the spirit moves like a straight 
line which starts from a point, passes through 
infinite space, forming a completed curve, and 
then returns to the starting-point. Thus : 





When the line starts from A it appears to be 
going in the same direction for ever, to return 
no more, but after moving in a straight line 
towards infinity it returns to the original start- 
ing-point. The line may form an ellipse, or a 
parabola, or a circle, but in all cases the moving 
point is destined to return. 

This illustrates the dynamic of a point in 
space. But the empirical mind of man moves 



92 



BRAHMADARSANAM 



IV 



not on the plane of space, but on the plane of 
time. Then it passes through the experience of 
the manifold of Avidya, through pain and un- 
truth to peace and truth. 

So it is with men. Sooner or later we shall 
all discover our Divine origin, Divine nature, 
and Divine destiny. Never despise agnostics, or 
those who are not of the same mind as yourself 
in philosophical and religious matters. We are 
all on the same tack; consciously or uncon- 
sciously, each one of us is struggling to evolve 
divinity out of nature just as worlds of symmetry 
and harmony arise out of the strife of nebulous 
vapours. A man may be fascinated for a time 
by the siren of unbelief, but he can never drink 
enough of the waters of Lethe to forget God. 
Just as the serum of small-pox injected into the 
body of a child renders him immune from the 
disease, so a discipline of agnostic philosophy 
prepares the heart for initiation into the wisdom 
of theism. Just as a healthy young man re- 
quires to take violent exercise, so the mind, on 
account of the ignorance innate in it, requires 
these incursions into the waste lands of athe- 
ism and unbelief, but in the end, like the prodi- 
gal son in the parable, it turns instinctively to 
God. It is better to be an honest agnostic 
than a parrot-like theist. 

Remember the lesson of history: the per- 
secution of Christians by pagans strengthened 
the foundations of the Christian Chruch in 
Europe, and the persecution of scientists by the 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 93 

Catholic Church in the Middle Ages gave fresh 
impetus to the scientific movement ; in the same 
way, the persecution of the Hindus by Mahome- 
dans in India has resulted in the revival of 
Hinduism. Persecution is as impotent an instru- 
ment in the hands of a corrupt and decayed 
Church as hatred and intolerance in the private 
individual. We Hindus neither hate nor quarrel 
nor seek to convert the people of other faiths, 
and we regard this zeal for converting others as 
a want of trust in God, whose aim it is to bring 
all His children to a knowledge of Himself. In 
India all the religions of the world are regarded 
as sincere endeavours to aid the spirit in its 
progress from lesser to higher conceptions of 
truth. 

We have discussed the question of man's 
relation to God, and have come to the conclusion 
that — 

(1) This question arises from the nature of 
man's memory which is absolutely independent, 
not only of the mechanism of the brain, but also 
of the empirical mind. 

(2) This relation may be either one of agree- 
ment or non-agreement, according as man turns 
towards God or away from Him. 

(3) I have shown that the relation of non- 
agreement implies — not denial of God, but 
opposition to Avidya, ignorance of Him. 

We will now consider other questions, which 
are of much deeper import to the student of 
Vedanta : (1) Is man created by God ? (2) Is 



94 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

the soul of man composed of the same substance 
as God? (3) Is man none other than, and 
identical with God? 

The first question cannot be seriously enter- 
tained. Anybody can stand up and ask, "Why 
did He create at all? How, and out of what 
was the soul created?" These questions can 
be answered by the inventors of mythology, or 
by dogmatic theology, but not by philosophy. 
The word "creation" is so vague and so un- 
philosophical that I believe it has been the cause 
of much disagreement between science and 
religion, between theists and agnostics. We 
must not picture God as the architect of the 
universe. As Sankara pointed out, the God of 
creation is the root of exoteric theology and the 
product of nescience. The assumption of God 
as creator involves the assumption that He is 
the source of evil, and that our sufferings were 
invented by Him — apparently in a vindictive 
spirit. I shall therefore dismiss the first alterna- 
tive as unworthy of philosophic consideration; 
but the second question deserves careful atten- 
tion : Is the soul akin to God's nature ? And 
are we a part of the Divine Substance ? 

To this it may be replied that in so far as man 
realises his universal nature and eternal destiny, 
the individual is in essence inseparable from 
God; but in so far as he is overcome by the 
limitations of his personality, he is separate from 
Him. 

This conclusion is based upon the revelation 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 95 

of our religious consciousness. In religious 
ecstasy (sampratijnata samadhi) God reveals 
Himself as Love and Wisdom, not as abstract 
qualities, but as a Divine Person, endowed with 
love and wisdom, who bestows these blessings 
upon the worshipper. It is in such moments of 
intensification and illumination that the know- 
ledge breaks upon us that we are infinite and 
immortal. We could never have realised our 
infinity unless we were, in essence, the same as 
God, of a piece with Him, a bit of Him. God 
breathes into our souls in moments of prayer, 
when all fear of death is blown away like dry 
grass before a tempest, and for the time being 
our imperfections leave us like a serpent's worn- 
out skin. The soul becomes filled with harmony, 
life, and joy when the touch of the Divine helps 
it to regain its Divine nature ; when man sees, 
not himself, but his Self in the light which 
streams from above; when he feels that he is 
as inseparable from God as heat is from fire, 
as word is from meaning. 

Here we must consider whether the nature of 
God is as we feel Him to be, or as He feels Him- 
self. We derive from our religious consciousness 
the idea that God is good, merciful, omniscient. 
We are aware of His attributes, viz. His power, 
His majesty, His wisdom, but can we say that 
God sees Himself in the same way that we see 
Him? It may be that God has a million of 
attributes, and that we know only a few, or it 
may be that His real nature is known to Himself 



96 BRAHMADARSANAM w 

only; to illustrate this point, it may be said 
that an artist sees more colours, lights, and 
shades, more symmetries, etc., in a picture 
than a man who is ignorant of the technique of 
art. God knows His whole nature, and man 
only knows a bit of Him. Ramanuja makes a 
distinction between God-as-He-sees-Himself and 
God as seen by man. He is not two, but One 
manifest in Himself in many ways, just as the 
air passing through the flute produces the seven 
fundamental musical notes. God is the Divine 
Unity, the Transcendent One of Absolutist 
philosophy, as well as the Lover and the Teacher 
of each individual soul. 

The great Indian poet Kabir expresses the 
relation between God and man by the beautiful 
imagery of the rhythmic swing. The human 
soul and the worlds are held to God by cords 
of love, and the motion of the cosmos is repre- 
sented as an eternal swing of God. According 
to this view, i.e. that of the qualified monists as 
represented by Ramanuja and his school, nature 
and the soul are the two ends of God's play- 
ground; but He Himself outstrips both nature 
and humanity. In ancient times this doctrine 
of God was taught by Bodhayana, in the Middle 
Ages by Ramanuja and Sri Kanta, and in mod- 
ern times by Chaitanya. It is called the Visista- 
dvaita, or qualified monism. It spread over to 
Persia, where it was known as Sufism, and in 
Europe it was popularised by Saint Augustine, 
Jacob Boehme, and Ruysbroeck. In the poems 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 97 

of Kabir, which have recently been translated 
into English by Rabindranath Tagore, and in 
the poems of Jalaluddin Rumi, you will find a 
poetical expression of this synthetic vision of 
God. 

There are four fundamental ideas which are 
the indications of man's future destiny; these 
are : perfection, immortality, eternity, and 
benevolence. They are not mere ideas, but 
ideals, and not mere abstract ideals, but living 
forces. Ideals become real through knowledge. 
He is mortal who does not know his immortality ; 
he is a sinner who is not aware of his perfection ; 
he is bound over to re-birth and re-death who 
has not seen God as his eternal Soul ; and he has 
not yet lived who has not opposed hatred by 
love. These four ideas are in your soul like 
seeds in the soil, and these seeds will become 
trees, covered with foliage and blossoms, when 
you become mukta purushas, or free souls. 

God, as He appears to the mukta purusha, 
must differ from the conception of those who are 
in bondage. Those who still walk in the valley 
of the shadow of death, whose eyes are blinded 
by ignorance, whose hearts are full of the sores 
of narrowness, — they can have no conception of 
God save as One who is endowed with human 
attributes, though many times magnified. For 
this reason there must be two different pictures 
of God, owing to the existence of two very 
different standpoints. The free souls realise 
God as One who is free from all phenomenal and 



98 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

anthropomorphic attributes, but for them who 
see Him through the eyes of faith and devotion 
He is still endowed with noumenal attributes or, 
in the words of Ramanuja, "kalyana gunakar," 
"endowed with innumerable auspicious quali- 
ties/' such as the boundless glory of illimitable 
knowledge, dominion and majesty, power, 
generation of all things at will, wisdom, mercy, 
etc. 

As a man's sins are washed away by incessant 
worship, so his knowledge of God becomes purer 
and wider, and thus, in the mystical language of 
Pancharatra, the Lord who is the ocean of com- 
passion takes five forms for the sake of His 
worshipper, viz. adoration (Archa), emanation 
(Vibhava), manifestation (Vyuha), the subtile 
controller (Suksma), and the internal controller 
(Antaryami) . These five progressive representa- 
tions of Godhead, as seen and understood by the 
mind of the devotee, are expressed in very 
mystical terms : Archa implies the pictorial or 
symbolical representation of the Invisible, as 
crystallised in religious institutions. In order 
that the child worshipper may begin spiritual 
life, he must be given some image, picture, or 
symbol, so that he can form some representative 
idea of God in his mind. Just as it is impossible 
to teach a child to read without first teaching 
him the alphabet, or to teach him mathematics 
without first teaching him numerical figures, so 
you cannot fix his attention upon God without 
giving him some symbols to think of. In 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 99 

Christian countries the cross is regarded as the 
symbol of religious worship, just as the national 
flag stands for the sentiment of patriotism. 
With us, the idea of God is associated with 
symbols carved in stone, or outlined on canvas. 
We do not worship idols, as the missionaries 
ignorantly assert, but the same psychology 
which makes you think respectfully of your flag 
and reverentially of your cross makes us Hindus 
think lovingly of the images of the Divine 
Mother and the statues of the Divine Chario- 
teer. This symbolical representation of God 
is the beginning of religious life; it precedes 
and paves the way to mental worship, and 
when man arrives at the higher stage of abstract 
worship, he then by an inner necessity of 
thought discards the symbols. 

The next stage in the progress of the spirit 
is indicated by the term Vibhava (emanation), 
which means God-man. Just as you regard 
Christ as God-man, or Son of God, so we believe 
that God assumes human form out of love, to 
guide man in the path of liberation. This 
second stage of spiritual progress is marked by 
the discovery of an intermediate soul who is both 
human and Divine ; Vibhava is the actual spirit, 
like Rama or Krishna, who came down on earth 
to lead humanity. The worship of the Incarna- 
tion of God is considered as good as the worship 
of God Himself, and many such incarnations are 
recorded in our history. They are also called 
advents (Avataras). 



100 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

The third stage is called Vyuha, which is the 
fourfold manifestation of the Supreme Spirit, 
named respectively Vasudeva, 1 or manifesta- 
tion under the form of universal soul ; Samkar- 
sana, manifestation under the form of Divine 
attraction or love; Pradyumna, manifestation 
under the form of pre-eminent might; Ani- 
ruddha, manifestation under the form of free- 
dom. At an advanced stage of spiritual insight 
we apprehend God as (1) Supreme Mind, (2) Su- 
preme Love, (3) Supreme Power, and (4) Su- 
preme Freedom. The fourth stage is called 
Suksma, or the subtile. When the devotee rises 
above the third stage, he perceives that these 
fourfold manifestations are inherent in one Per- 
son who is the centre of all that is good and 
powerful and beautiful. The fifth, or last stage, 
is Antaryami, when the devotee feels that his 
soul is the throne or chariot of God. The ego is 
now no longer self-willed, but is moved by God ; 
He is the sure Friend, the faithful Lover, the 
wise Teacher, and the All in All. This is the 
highest height of religious consciousness. 2 

As a man progresses in the path of righteous- 
ness and devotion, he becomes fit to worship 
God under these different forms, beginning with 
the first and ending with Antaryami, when his 
soul is emancipated from all imperfections and 
he enjoys the beatitudes in the company of the 
Most High. "Cut is his heart's knot, solved 
are all his doubts, and exhausted are all his 

1 See Appendix. 2 See Appendix. 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 101 

works when he has seen the Highest and Lowest " 
(Upanishads), because he is then for ever united 
with God. This union does not lie in the power 
of the individual soul, but in the choice of God, 
for, as the Rishi says, "God is not attainable 
by study, or wisdom, or learning; whom God 
chooses, by him God may be attained, to him 
He unfolds His own nature." 

Ramanuja thinks that souls are the body of 
God : these Jivas — as a collection of sentient 
beings — are the eternal ideas of God, and just 
as perfection, virtue, knowledge, etc., are the 
ideas of superior reason, inextricably bound 
together with it, so all these countless souls are 
present in the Divine Mind from all eternity. 
In the same way, nature (Prakriti), time (Kala), 
and the law of ethics (Karma) are the eternal 
thoughts of God. So we may say that conscious 
souls are the subjective ideas, while nature (i.e. 
time, space, motion) is the objective idea of God. 

Both these subjective and objective ideas are 
liable to the law of evolution and devolution, 
appearance and disappearance. Creation means 
actualisation, and destruction means the poten- 
tialisation of these ideas which are eternally 
present in God's mind. Still it must be remem- 
bered that God surpasses even His subjective- 
objective nature. What He is like is beyond 
the power of intellect to conceive, or the power 
of language to express. 

Those who are anxious to study this aspect 
of Vedantic thought ought to be familiar 



102 BRAHMADARSANAM iv 

with the writings of Ramanuja Acharya, 
Sri Kantha Acharya, and Madhya Acharya. 
They ought also to read Baladeva's Govinda 
Bhasya and the works of the brothers Rupa 
and Sanatana. Srimad Bhagavad is an ex- 
cellent book on the subject. 

Reality has its origin in the ideal order of 
the universe. The truth of the ideal universe 
lies in its capacity for being subjected to the 
experience of a conscious soul. This conscious 
soul is God, who is intuitively conscious of (1) 
the finite experiencing soul, (2) the ideal uni- 
verse, and (3) the real universe. Hence God, 
soul, and universe are the three moments of an 
eternally abiding interdependent series. These 
are the three Nityas, or eternal reals of the 
Visistadvaita school of the Vedanta philosophy. 

Thus, to put it in pictorial language, we learn 
that humanity is God's body and nature his 
raiment. How beautiful it is to think that we 
are all in His embrace ! 

The highest object of religious aspiration is 
to feel the Omnipresence of God. He is to be 
sought and worshipped not only in Himself 
(Is vara), but also in soul (Chit) and in matter 
(Achit) . In the Gitd Sri Krishna teaches sat asat 
aham, " I am the real as well as the unreal." To 
come to a proper understanding of Isvara, Chit, 
and Achit, three methods of realisation have 
been taught in the Scriptures of the Hindus : 
(1) Svadharmacharana, performance of your 
duty ; (2) Atmanatmaviveka, discrimination of 



iv MONISM: MAN AS DIVINE 103 

the real self from the unreal ego ; and (3) Vasu- 
deva sarvam iti, to realise that everything which 
exists, gross and subtile, movable and immovable, 
visible and invisible, are nothing but God. These 
three are called the three secrets of the micro- 
cosmos — corresponding to the three secrets of 
the macrocosmos, viz. Isvara, Chit, and Achit. 
They are the three sacred truths of life, and 
they form the essence of Vedanta, in fact of all 
religions of the world. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. 

Chhandogya Upanishad. 

Plotinus' writings.] 

Descartes' Works. 

Spinoza's Works. 

Sankara's Bhasyas. 

Taittiriya Upanishad. 

Ramanuja's Vedarthasamgraha, Vedantadipa, and 

Bhasyas. 
Meister Eckhart's Works. 
Kabir's Poems. 

Sri Kantha's Sivacharya Bhasya. 
Baladeva Vidyabhusan's Siddhantaratna. 
Vachaspati's Bhamati. 
Madhvasiddhantasara by Padmanabhasuri. 



MONISM: THE ABSOLUTE AND THE 

COSMOS 

Psychological foundation of Advaita philosophy of Sankara — 
State of subconsciousness — Progressive Yoga life — 
Turiya and Samvit — Avidya, the doctrine of error — 
Discipleship. 

Sri Sankara Acharya' s exposition of the 
Vedanta proceeds on strict Advaita, or monistic 
lines ; it is an exposition which is unsurpassed 
in the history of philosophy. No philosopher, 
either in ancient or in modern times, has ever 
risen to such high altitudes to survey pure 
spirit; yet he cannot be called the founder of 
Advaita Vedanta, for he only carried on the 
glorious traditions of_ his master and spiritual 
father, Sri Govinda Acharya, who wasjn turn 
the spiritual son of Sri Gaudapada Acharya, 
the writer of an excellent commentary on some 
of the most abstruse of the Upanishads. The 
age in which these three philosophers flourished 
is not exactly known, but it can safely be 
said to have been not later than the eighth 
century a.d. 

104 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 105 

Sankara based his teaching on the ancient 
texts of the Upanishads, and his interpretation 
was guided by a transcendental sense of value 
which was at once critical and constructive. 
He mercilessly exposed the fallacies of Kapila's 
realism and the nihilism of the Buddha's teach- 
ing. The blemishes in the systems taught by 
Patanjali and Gotama were also pointed out 
by him; but although his tone was extremely 
critical, Sankara's philosophy is far from being 
destructive, for he established philosophical 
thought on the surest of all foundations, viz. 
on the transcendental identity of experience 
with existence, chit and sat. 

Hence arises the great difficulty of compre- 
hending the logic of his dialectical procedure, 
for a thorough familiarity with the Vedas and 
the different Darsanas is a pre-requisite for the 
student who aspires to the study of Sankara's 
Advaita. Moreover, the abstruse nature of his 
writings may be appreciated from the fact that 
the superstructure of his metaphysics was built 
upon the psychical experience of the fourth 
degree (Turiya), and that the truths taught in 
his work were meant for the instruction of those 
who, being born in the fourth caste (Brahman), 
had, by pure and holy living, made themselves 
eligible for the fourth order (Yati) ; and lastly, 
the ideal which he preached could only bear 
fruit and become actual to those who had the 
fourth purpose of life (Moksha) in view, and 
who were on the threshold of realising the fourth 



106 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

and last perfection (nirvikalpa Samadhi). The 
Advaita ideal is to be followed by those who 
have renounced all desires for worldly prosperity, 
who live only for truth, and whose one object 
in life is liberation. 

But let not this discourage any one from the 
study of Sankara, for whatever may be your 
position in the world of religion and philosophy, 
you all desire to be emancipated from error and 
saved by a knowledge of truth which can give 
permanent peace and happiness. The seeds of 
knowledge sown now will bear fruit in the fulness 
of time. 

Let us examine some of the salient features 
of the Advaita philosophy of Sankara. The 
promise of Advaita-knowledge lies embedded in 
our nightly experience of deep sleep (Susupti), 
and its fulfilment in the experience of uncondi- 
tioned ecstasy (Samadhi). It would be impos- 
sible to understand the Advaita philosophy unless 
we were able to discover its psychological founda- 
tion in the depths of our own nature. Consider 
the changes that take place within the mind 
every twenty-four hours : in the day-time we 
are awake and active ; at night we go to sleep. 
Sometimes we dream, at other times we enjoy 
a dreamless sleep ; thus it happens that every 
day we pass through the three states of waking, 
dreaming, and dreamlessness, yet we hardly stop 
to think over these three states of our own 
bodies and minds, although the entire range of 
existence and experience lies confined within 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 107 

the limits of the two parallel states of waking 
and sleeping. What is life but waking ? What 
is death but sleep? Yet we feel that our real 
existence is beyond wakefulness and sleep, 
beyond life and death. Why is this? In 
waking we are conscious of the ego and of the 
world; the ego remains unchanged while the 
world changes. By the term "world" I mean 
the sensations that come to the mind through 
the senses, the eyes, ears, nose, taste, and touch. 
These sensations are continually changing : first 
we see light, then perhaps we hear sound, after 
that we experience smell, etc. It is the ego 
which perceives these changes ; the ego is also 
acting. When we desire to talk or walk, it is 
the ego which puts forth activity and thereby 
moves the organs and limbs — hands, feet, 
tongue, etc. 

One of the functions of the ego is knowing, 
while the other is acting. In waking life the 
ego knows and does, therefore we may say that 
self-consciousness is the central fact of waking 
experience, in which the ego clearly distinguishes 
its individuality from the individuality of other 
egos. For instance, I am distinct and separate 
from you ; you can never obliterate the distinc- 
tive mark of your own individuality from that 
of a friend, a son, or a neighbour. "I," "you," 
"he" are personal pronouns which express this 
ineffaceable distinction between different in- 
dividuals. In the waking state self-conscious- 
ness implies the consciousness of personality and 



108 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

not that of the pure Self. This personality is 
really a series or group of attributes; i.e. it 
includes the mental attributes which you have 
inherited from your ancestors, as well as those 
which are acquired. You may be kind, energetic, 
and temperate ; you may be a father in relation 
to one individual, brother in relation to another, 
and so on. Personality is a consciousness of 
disposition, social position, etc., and all these 
revolve around the centre called "I"; but 
what this "I" is, apart from personality, is a 
mystery. Another characteristic of the content 
of the waking consciousness is the uniformity of 
the outer world. In the waking state time is 
measurable, space is measurable, and there is a 
nexus between one event and another, which 
is called the causal tie ; for instance, there is a 
relation between rain and harvest. This know- 
ledge, which we derive from the measurableness 
of time, space and causality, constitutes our 
conception of the uniformity of nature; there- 
fore we may sum up the contents of our wakeful 
consciousness as follows : 

(1) Knowledge of our own character, dis- 
position, etc. 

(2) Knowledge of the character, disposition, 
etc., of others, e.g. men and animals. 

(3) Knowledge of the uniformity of space, 
time, and causality. Does the waking con- 
sciousness give us the knowledge of the true 
nature of this self? It is difficult to answer; 
let us say that it gives us direct knowledge of 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 109 

our own character, etc., and of the character 
and disposition of others, together with an in- 
direct knowledge of the "I" or self. I say "in- 
direct knowledge," because we really do not 
know the exact nature of the "I," although we 
have good reason for supposing that behind and 
below my thoughts and feelings there is "some- 
thing" which forms, so to speak, the ground or 
foundation of my character and disposition, 
whether waking or dreaming. 

Let us now analyse dream-consciousness. It 
is very difficult to say what happens during the 
interval between the beginning of sleep and the 
beginning of dream. It may be that our dreams 
begin in a more or less hazy way from the 
moment when drowsiness first overcomes us. 
In an advanced stage of sleep our dream-images 
become sufficiently clear and distinct to impress 
themselves on the memory so that on awaking 
we are able to recall them. If we compare the 
content of waking consciousness with that of 
dream consciousness, we shall find that as a 
general rule dream-consciousness contains all 
the elements of waking consciousness, only vastly 
transformed. For instance, in many cases there 
is a marked change of personality ; the character, 
age, rank, temperament, and disposition of the 
dreamer changes in the wildest way. A poor 
housemaid dreams that she has become the 
Queen of Persia, a brave warrior dreams that 
he runs away at the first sign of danger, and a 
man dreams that he is an angel. Time, space, 



110 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

and causality take on a new role ; events appear 
to take place in a few moments which would 
in reality occupy many months, maybe years. 
There is a case recorded of a man who dreamed 
he was wandering about in the wilderness. After 
walking for several days in the jungle, he found 
his way out and entered a small village where 
he lived in the house of a rich man, fell in love 
with the daughter and married her. They lived 
happily together for many years, during which 
time seven boys and seven girls were born to 
them; then their happiness was marred by a 
severe famine, in consequence of which food 
became very scarce and the whole family had 
to leave the village. While the man with his 
wife and children were fording a stream, down 
came a strong current of water from the moun- 
tains and swept them all away, with the excep- 
tion of the man himself, who with great difficulty 
swam across and was thrown against the river 
bank. He got up and dried himself in the sun, 
but just when he was thinking of going on to 
the nearest village, a huge tiger attacked him. 
Frightened by the animal, he yelled for help, 
and was awakened by the sound of his own 
voice. All this took place in an inconceivably 
short time. 

In dream, time creeps like a snail or gallops 
like a war-horse. In dream, we cannot measure 
time in the same way as we do in waking, we 
cannot divide it into hours, minutes, etc. Space 
also undergoes a great transformation, and 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 111 

distance is no longer the same in dream as in 
the waking state ; similarly the idea of causality 
changes. Dream-consciousness transforms all 
our notions concerning nature's laws, and no 
happenings, however grotesque, cause any 
surprise to the dreamer. The world of dream 
has laws and expectations of its own, quite 
apart from those of the waking world. Thus 
we see that the experience of dream is unverified 
by the experience of waking. The images of 
dream appear to the dreamer as real ; he only 
believes them to be unreal on waking, but it 
never occurs to the dreamer that the sights and 
sounds which he experiences on waking are un- 
real, for waking gives the lie to dream experience, 
but not conversely. In one sense dream-life 
is a narrowing down of consciousness, but in 
another sense it reveals the vast possibilities 
of a widening of the function and sphere of 
consciousness. Dream shuts us within a sphere 
in which the ego is unable to take part or influence 
other egos, or the world of matter. The dreamer 
is not an ethical personage, for he is not master 
of his own will or conduct. Dream shows the 
power of the ego to create time, space, and 
causality. In waking we are the creatures of 
time, but in dreaming we create a new time from 
whose tyranny there is no escape except by 
waking. Thus the ego destroys time and space, 
and evolves a new time and a new space out of 
its own Karma — only to become once more a 
prisoner. Its newly acquired freedom from the 



112 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

meshes of the outer world is devoured by the 
monster of the world within. 

Advancing from the magic house of dream 
to the field of dreamlessness, we find a complete 
change of scene. Dreamlessness is a unique 
experience; it is a state of intense passivity, 
peace, and silence. We cannot say that the ego 
did not exist in the dreamless state, for on 
waking it recollects that it slept soundly and 
peacefully ; neither can it be said that the ego 
was unconscious at that moment, because the 
memory was actively recording the absence of 
any phenomenal experience, and that is why 
the dreamer says on waking, "I did not dream.'' 
Dreamlessness is therefore the consciousness of 
negation, but it cannot be said that the entire 
field of consciousness was empty of all content, 
because there was, at the moment, a conscious- 
ness of rest, quiet, and delight. It is an experi- 
ence in which the function of the ego changes. 
It no longer feels the pressure from the world 
of other egos or from the world of sights and 
sounds. It fails to objectify itself, and thus for- 
gets its relation to the world and society ; it is 
no longer a subject, because the dreamless ego 
is unconscious of its mental and moral attributes. 
During deep sleep kings no longer remember 
that they are kings, the sinner forgets his sin 
and the saint his holiness. In one way only the 
dreamless ego retains its subjective character, 
viz. it is conscious of the experience of restful 
joy due to the temporary cessation of all brain 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 113 

activity. The light of consciousness is turned 
back upon itself, and in its own light it sees the 
surrounding gloom of nothingness. 

It may seem to you that this third, or dream- 
less state, is the last state of the ego ; but that 
is not the case. Beyond this there is another 
state, known to the Rishis by the name of, 
Turiya, which is called the fourth or last state of 
the soul. There are no words to express the 
idea of the Turiya state. It may be called the 
transcendental state of the soul because it tran- 
scends, or goes beyond the three states of wake- 
fulness, dream, , and dreamlessness. It is, in 
fact, not a state but the very ground, essence, 
and substance of consciousness, upon which, as 
I pointed out at the beginning of my lecture this 
evening, rests the Advaita philosophy of San- 
kara. It is exceedingly difficult to draw a line 
of demarcation between the third and fourth 
state of sound sleep. The Turiya is the point 
where consciousness becomes identical with 
existence and the circle of thought coincides 
with the circle of reality; hence it would be 
impossible to describe it by any symbol, quality, 
or attribute. The soul sees itself, and its in- 
dividuality ceases, it becomes universal, one 
with God. Not personal God, determined by 
the conditions of an evolutionary world system, 
but the impersonal, absolute God, called in 
Vedanta, Brahman. 

Imagine for a moment the absolute non- 
existence of this vast world of sight and sound. 



114 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

What remains after the starry universe is de- 
stroyed ? A vast space. Then imagine this space 
to be devoid of ether and of the subtile seeds 
of creation. Perfect stillness reigns supreme 
over the ocean of universal space, beginningless 
and endless. What supports it? It is self- 
supported, self-dependent, lifeless, motionless, 
soundless, colourless. From this analogy you 
can conceive the state of the soul in Turiya. 
The soul in Turiya does not see, yet is not blind ; 
does not hear, yet is not deaf ; does not reason, 
yet is not irrational ; does not exist, yet is not 
non-existent; it goes beyond the bounds of 
space, time, idea, feeling, thought, and reality. 
The Rishi describes it in his mystical language 
as "neither inwardly conscious nor outwardly 
conscious, neither conscious both inwardly and 
outwardly, nor is it massive consciousness, 
neither conscious nor unconscious, what none 
can see, nor apprehend, nor understand, without 
mark, unthinkable, past definition, nought but 
self-conscious alone that ends all evolution, 
peaceful, good and non-dual. This is the Self, 
this must be known." l 

Every time that we enjoy deep sleep we touch 
the sphere of our eternal glory. The rhythm 
of nature throws us on to the timeless shores of 
immortality. The soul plays with herself, free 
and joyous, on the fields of her own glory, and 
there the music of the spheres is hushed into the 
beauty of silence. Leaving her harp, the muse 

1 Mdndukya Upanishad, 7. 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 115 

enters into the lotus-chamber of the heart of 
contemplation. 

This Turiya, or the absolute Self, of which 
we half unconsciously obtain a glimpse in deep 
sleep, driven thence by the necessity of the 
body's mechanism, must be realised in Yoga, 
or religious meditation and ecstasy. I say "un- 
consciously," because we rise out of profound 
sleep without knowing that we were blessed with 
the beatific vision of the Self-Divine. Sleep is 
an avenue of unconscious self-knowledge ; Yoga 
is the avenue of intensely conscious self-know- 
ledge. It is for this reason that I said the 
promise of Advaita lies embedded in the psy- 
chology of deep sleep and its fulfilment in the 
experience of Samadhi. As Turiya is the fourth 
state of the soul, so Samadhi is the fourth stage 
of Sadhana, or religious aspiration and effort. 
The first stage of religious life is dispassion 
(Vairagya), or the conscious effort of the soul 
to shake off the influence of matter and the 
acquired disposition to delight in the pleasures 
of the body. The second stage is discrimination 
(Viveka), or the intellectual realisation that the 
Self-Divine is the only Reality and the only 
Truth, all else mere nothing. The third stage 
is called Absorption (Dhyana), or the continuous 
dwelling of the mind on the glory and substance 
of the Self -Divine. The fourth and last stage 
of religious life is Samadhi, or the realisation of 
oneness with the Divine in pure consciousness 
and perfect freedom. The four states of our 



116 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

psychic life, viz. (1) waking, in which we are 
conscious of the outward universe ; (2) dreaming, 
in which we are conscious of the inward universe ; 
(3) dreamlessness, in which we are unconscious 
of the inward and outward universe; and (4) 
Turiya, in which we are self-conscious in the 
absolute sense, — these four states correspond to 
the four stages of the Yoga life of the religious 
aspirant, viz. (1) conquest of the objective world 
of sense and emotion, (2) conquest of the sub- 
jective world of intellect and reason, (3) conquest 
of the subtile world in which the first two lie 
in seed form, and (4) freedom in the identity of 
Self with God. 

In our analysis of the states of waking, dream, 
and dreamlessness, we discovered that the self 
does not know itself although it knows the other. 
By "other" I mean the object or presentation 
in consciousness. In waking, the self knows the 
physical ; in dreaming, the mental world ; and in 
dreamlessness, the absence of the presentation 
itself. In all the three states it stands watching, 
witnessing the play of fancies, desires, and images 
in the mind. This watchful, witnessing self is 
called Samvit. Whether we are ill or well, at 
work or play, asleep or awake, this "inner 
witness" never loses sight of our thoughts and 
actions. This Samvit is quite wide awake when 
the physical brain is stunned, or during what is 
popularly known as unconsciousness, trance, or 
fainting. From the moment of birth to the 
moment of death, through the rough and smooth 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 117 

experiences of life, Samvit remains the same — 
self-luminous, self -active, self -regulating. Hence 
it is reasonable to assume that it is independent 
of brain and body, and therefore independent 
of what we call life and death. The Samvit is 
like the flame of a candle, burning and illumining 
perpetually, its brightness undiminished by that 
which envelops it. Try however hard you may, 
you cannot put out the light of your own con- 
sciousness. If you extinguish it in one sphere, 
that same moment it is sure to shine in another 
sphere, like the sun which sets in the western, 
to rise again in the eastern sky, undiminished 
in glory and effulgence. The scenes in the 
theatre change, the actors come and go, but the 
illuminating lamp burns all the while. 1 

One of the most remarkable characteristics 
of the first three psychical states is the unknow- 
ability of the real "I." In waking we become 
acquainted with the stream of consciousness — 
not with the bed or the basin of the stream. 
This stream of consciousness consists of a surface- 
current and an under-current ; the former is the 
sensation-continuum of auditory, visual, tactual, 
olfactory, and gustatory sensations, while the 
latter is the ideal continuum of motives, feelings, 
and thoughts. The sensation-continuum, when 
projected into the vacuum of space, produces 
pictures of the fixed and stable world, and when 
projected into time, produces the world of move- 
ment. The mind creates this dual world by 

1 See Appendix. 



118 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

projecting this sensation-continuum on to the 
screen of time and space. The ideal-continuum 
is also a superimposition of the ego of interests 
and feelings relating to the preservation of our 
bodily life. In a way we seem to be aware of 
these two, the sensation-continuum and the 
ideal-continuum, the surface-current and the 
under-current of the stream of consciousness. 
But we know nothing of the self on which and 
within which our thoughts move and the space 
in which the physical world hangs. To use a 
familiar illustration : when you witness a play 
in a cinema theatre, you cannot see the machine 
or the man (while you sit among the audience), 
neither can you see the background upon which 
the images of men and women, railways and 
steamships, are moving. Similarly, in waking 
and in dreaming we are ignorant of the soul, i.e. 
the subjective substratum, on which the mind 
rests. What happens in the dreamless state? 
Just what happens in the cinema theatre when 
the machine stops and the lights in the audi- 
torium are extinguished. You are surrounded 
on all sides by darkness and feel that you only 
are there, by yourself, alone. The ignorance 
of the waking and dreaming states takes a 
massive form and prevents the soul from know- 
ing anything outside the knowledge of its own 
identity. 

This brings us to the consideration of the 
doctrine of error (Avidya). Knowledge and 
error are as inevitably combined as light and 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 119 

darkness. If you ask me, What is error? I 
will reply by asking a counter question, What 
is darkness ? It is only possible to define dark- 
ness by negatives. Similarly error can only be 
defined by saying that it is the want of knowledge. 
In fact, the word knowledge has only a relative 
sense, for it implies error; for this reason the 
Vedanta says that Avidya is perpetual. This 
doctrine of error, or nescience, is the keynote 
to Vedanta epistemology. I will try to explain 
it as clearly as I can. When you say, "I 
know," you imply at the same time that "I 
do not know." This sounds paradoxical, but 
it is true. For instance, when you say, "This 
is the sky," you mean that the blue vault over- 
head is called sky and that it looks blue. This 
is all you know ; but you do not know of what 
the thing called "sky" is composed, nor how 
old it is ; you do not know its length and breadth, 
nor who made it, nor do you know the many 
other qualities which it may possess. Similarly 
with all the things of this earth ; there are always 
certain attributes, or aspects, which remain 
unknown to our intellects. This our body, so 
near to us — do we profess to understand its 
nature, its working, and the laws which govern 
its origin, growth, and decay? The wisest 
among our scientists is ignorant of the mystery 
of life. We know a little, but there is a great 
deal which we do not know. Avidya is not the 
negation of knowledge, it is the negative element 
present in knowledge. For instance, we some- 



120 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

times say we are certain that we do not know 
such and such a thing ; just as in mathematics 
one presupposes "zero," so in Vedanta, Vidya 
(knowledge) presupposes Avidya (error). The 
function of Avidya is to offer a perpetual opposi- 
tion to Vidya, but such is the beautiful economy 
of our inner nature that Vidya is continually 
overcoming Avidya, and the reign of knowledge 
is ever expanding. 

If we inquire into the origin of error we shall 
not arrive at any answer. Whence this error 
that accompanies us all our lives? Why this 
error at all ? Will it ever end ? We cannot deny 
that our intellects are at every step shadowed 
by the fear of error; our forgetfulness, our 
tendency to exaggerate, our liability to decep- 
tion, all these come under the term Avidya. In 
theology, Avidya appears as "sin," or "original 
sin." In ethics, Avidya goes under the name of 
"evil" or "immorality." In aesthetics, Avidya 
is called "ugliness" or "the unbeautif ul " ; in 
logic, Avidya is fallacy ; in metaphysics, Avidya 
is called phenomenon ; in practical life, Avidya 
touches us in the guise of pain, disappointment, 
sorrow, and misery. When a friend misunder- 
stands your language, it is because his mind is 
clouded by Avidya, or because Avidya prevents 
you from using the right words. 

Our very notions of "life" and "death," of 
"right" and "wrong," of "pleasant" and "un- 
pleasant" are the products of Avidya. There 
is no absolute standard in the world of Avidya ; 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 121 

one Avidya makes man think that he is the lord 
of creation, but wait and see how another 
Avidya appears in the form of an infinitesimally 
small insect, a microbe of typhus, which humili- 
ates him to death. Great nations of warriors 
who conquered the world have been blotted out 
of existence by insects and microbes. What is 
all this but the magic of Avidya? Who can 
understand the growth of man from the proto- 
plasm ? Waking is no less Avidya than dream- 
ing. Man becomes a philosopher only when he 
understands his inability to understand. 

Is Avidya real or unreal? In other words, 
is an illusion real or unreal ? This question may 
be illustrated by an example. We all say, "The 
sky is blue," but we know it is an optical illusion ; 
the sky has no colour. Again we say, " The sky 
meets the earth at the horizon." This also is 
an illusion; the sky appears like an arch but 
is not so. These two attributes of the sky, viz. 
blueness and curve, are not real and do not exist 
at all, and yet we seem to think that they are 
real. If we abstract or take away these two 
seeming attributes from the sky, what remains ? 
Nothing but the vast space signified by the name 
"sky." This example shows the true function 
of Avidya, viz. it makes the unreal appear as 
real, the non-existent appear as existent ; blue- 
ness and curve do not exist in the sky, but 
Avidya conjures them up and holds them before 
our vision. At the same time there can be no 
illusion without a real substratum; the sub- 



122 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

stratum of sky is necessary in order to produce 
the illusion of blue colour and curve; if there 
were no sky, there could not have been the 
appearance of blueness and curve. Just try to 
think of these two attributes as existing without 
a sky to support them ; you cannot think in that 
way. Take another example. When ski-ing on 
the snow-clad hills of Norway, I have often seen 
a figure on the distant hill-top. My first impres- 
sion suggested that it was a bear, but as I pro- 
ceeded it seemed to resemble a man; when I 
began ascending, I discovered that it was only 
a tree. First the idea of a bear frightened me ; 
next the idea of meeting a fellow-traveller con- 
soled me ; and lastly, when I discovered that it 
was a tree, I laughed at myself. These illusions 
illustrate the nature of the working of Avidya ; 
it makes the unreal appear as real and super- 
imposes illusory images upon a real thing. In 
the first example the blue colour rested upon 
the sky, and in the second example the illusory 
image of a man rested upon the tree. Many 
other examples of illusory perception may be 
cited, but this general rule will hold good in 
each case. 

The same Avidya is at work within our minds, 
but it is not so evident as in the case of sense 
perception. But when we practise introspection, 
we soon find that Avidya is lurking in our minds 
also. For instance, our belief in our own ego 
is a belief in point. We all believe that each one 
of us possesses a separate ego, each one imagines 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 123 

that he is engaged in some work, that he is 
enjoying or suffering. If I am asked where I 
see the working of Avidya here, I reply that it 
is Avidya which makes each one feel as though 
he or she were an enjoyer of pleasures, a doer of 
deeds, or a sufferer of pain. It is Avidya that 
makes us feel awake, or asleep, or dreaming. 
These illusory states are superimposed upon the 
universal, unchangeable, eternal "I" which is 
the real "Self," of which we have a glimpse in 
Turiya. Illusion does not last long ; it vanishes 
from the mind as soon as discovered, although 
it may continue to have an objective existence 
for others. One of the great tests of illusion 
is that it changes : those who have studied 
physical science see the blueness of the sky just 
as those do to whom the illusion has not been 
pointed out, but for them it has no existential 
value. The proof that the real eternal "I" is 
quite distinct from the narrow individual "I" 
consists in the constant change to which the 
latter is liable. We know that sometimes we 
feel very happy and say to ourselves, "I am 
enjoying life!" Again, at other times, we feel 
miserable, and say to ourselves, " I am unhappy." 
Or again, at other moments, a feeling of peace 
comes over us. Which of these is the real "I" ? 
The happy "I," the unhappy "I," or the peace- 
ful "I" ? Then, again, sometimes we are awake 
and active, at other times we are asleep and 
passive. Which is the real "I," the wakeful 
"I," or the sleeping "I"? Sometimes we are 



124 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

clever, sometimes bright, and sometimes dull; 
which is the real "I," the dull "I," the bright 
"I," or the clever "I"? There is a clear line 
of demarcation between the changeless "I" 
which stands at the back, and the changing 
"I" which acts, enjoys and suffers, wakes, 
sleeps and dreams. This changing "I" is the 
illusory offspring of Avidya, and the changeless 
"I" is the eternal Self, the Atman, the Brahman. 

Just as on pure space the two attributes of 
colour and curve are superimposed by Avidya, 
so on the pure consciousness of Brahman are 
superimposed the attributes of enjoyment and 
suffering, activity and passivity, thought and 
will, life and death, by Avidya. And just as we 
discover from our physical science that real 
space is without colour and without form, so 
from our knowledge derived from the Guru and 
the Vedanta we discover that the real and true 
Self is birthless and deathless and changeless, 
neither enjoys nor suffers, but is One, identical 
with Itself, universal and eternal. 

Avidya makes us believe that we are many, 
in reality the Self is One — one vast, indivisible, 
limitless consciousness, appearing as separate 
centres of consciousness in each individual. The 
very idea that we are individuals is an illusion, 
for what is the essence of individuality ? Con- 
sciousness. How can consciousness be bounded 
by space and time, body and mind ? The proof 
of this is sought in our experience of the Turiya, 
when not a shadow of individuality lingers with- 






v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 125 

in the field of consciousness. The belief that 
you are embodied is only a habit of thought, 
fostered by ignorance; the real self which re- 
veals itself in Turiya has no body, is neither old 
nor young, neither ill nor in health, neither poor 
nor rich, but is the self identical with the Self. 

The whole of experience extending from the 
waking to the dreamless state is Avidya's field 
of operation. At this point it may perhaps be 
asked, Is the whole of life a mere illusion ? To 
this question I shall not attempt to give a 
definite answer. 

There was once a King who devoted himself 
to the study of the Vedanta, and being persuaded 
that this life had no real existence and was 
therefore valueless, he spent all his time in medi- 
tation and neglected his Queen and the affairs 
of state. One day, noticing her royal husband's 
indifference, the Queen inquired whether any- 
thing had occurred to keep the King away from 
those whom he loved so dearly. To this the 
King replied that nothing had occurred except 
that all the world appeared to him a mere 
nothing, an illusion. "The kingdom is a 
phantom," he said. Then the Queen asked : 

"Is all that we see an illusion?" 

"Yes," he replied. 

"Are our children also an illusion? 5 ' she 
asked. 

"Yes." 

"Am I an illusion?" 

"Yes." 



126 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

"Then is not the King himself an illusion?" 

At this he hesitated before replying, and 
the Queen, perceiving his embarrassment, said, 
"Are there not some illusions which are useful? 
And if so, would it not be as well to act as though 
they were real for the time being?" 

Then the King, recognising his mistake, was 
obliged to acknowledge that the Queen was 
right. 

By this it will be seen that all is not illusion, 
for according to the Vedantic theory, error im- 
plies truth, illusion implies reality. The unreal 
life, which is true for all time, floats mysteriously 
upon the real life, which is true for all eternity. 
For the time being this unreal life of action is 
to be taken for a fact — a sort of provisional 
hypothesis having a pragmatical value. But all 
the events of life are facts of illusion. Our 
social endeavours, our government, our wars, 
our peace, our morals, our literature and science, 
are facts within Avidya. They are unreal — 
when we rise above them and behold our own 
reality. Just as in dream we see images and 
for the moment believe them to be real, but 
when we awake from sleep we realise that we 
have been dreaming; similarly, as long as we 
lead the life of ignorance we take all things to 
be real, but when we awake in Yoga Samadhi 
we realise that the things of sense are mere 
shadows, and the pains that we suffer, the 
crosses that we bear, appear as nothing when 
the soul enters into the Kingdom of God. 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 127 

If it is asked, "Is the soul unreal? For if 
the three states of waking, dreaming, and dream- 
lessness are illusory productions, then why does 
it not follow that even the idea of a soul is 
erroneous ?" I reply that if you think that the 
soul is somewhere located in the body, or that it 
is conditioned by time, space, and mental modifi- 
cations, then it is an erroneous belief. The idea 
that souls are many, that they suffer or enjoy, 
that they are born and die, or that they possess 
bodies, is called in Sanscrit Jiva bhava. Avidya 
is responsible for this Jiva bhava, or the notion 
of being an individual. Avidya superimposes 
this Jiva bhava upon Brahman — the eternal 
consciousness of God. Avidya has the power 
to make the eternal, imperishable Brahman look 
as though he were mortal, having a body and 
liable to the accidents of earthly life. Just as 
the sky, though in reality without shape and 
colour, appears to us as having a curved shape 
and a blue colour, so the universal Brahman 
appears to us, i.e. to our Avidya-tainted minds, 
as Jiva. But as by studying science we learn 
that the sky is a vast, illimitable space, without 
shape or colour, so by studying the Vedas we 
learn that Brahman is the One Eternal Truth 
and Bliss of existence. 

Our fundamental position is that existence 
is knowledge. Avidya consists in thinking of 
non-existence as existence. Reality co-exists 
with eternity. All that we perceive exists in 
time and space. Whenever we think that a 



128 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

thing exists, we think it has been caused by 
something else ; in other words, we cannot think 
of a thing as causeless. This kind of thinking 
is Avidya-thinking, therefore our physical organ- 
ism is the product of Avidya-thought. The 
physical organism exists as long as our judgment 
is fettered by Avidya. More than that : even 
when ignorance is dispelled by Vedantic know- 
ledge, the body of the Yogi continues to live, 
just as when we are told by our professors that 
the sky is without shape and colour we con- 
tinue to see curved space and blue colour in the 
sky, for the momentum of Avidya lasts for some 
time after disillusionment. We all know that 
the physical body is ephemeral and that it will 
die, yet we are still anxious to preserve it. But 
even after the death of the physical body there 
is no escape from Avidya ; as in sleep the ego 
dreams nonsensical dreams, so after death the 
ego goes on believing in its own individuality. 
As the ego (Jiva) wanders helplessly from 
waking to dreamland, and from dreamland to 
the quiet valley of deep sleep, so the soul, over- 
come by Avidya, wanders helplessly from exist- 
ence to existence, from experience to experience. 
The memories of pain and pleasure, experienced 
in past lives, continue to unfold themselves in 
the actuality of embodied existence. Can we 
resist our inclination to work and our inclination 
to rest ? No, we are quite helpless, we eat and 
sleep because we cannot do otherwise. Similarly 
we are born and we shall pass away, because 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 129 

we have no control over the creative and de- 
structive powers of Karma. We are the creatures 
of our desires, the creatures of heredity, of the 
civilisation of our age and environment. In a 
word, we are the slaves of illusion. 

This doctrine of Avidya sounds very hopeless. 
It seems to rob us of our dignity, of our glory, 
of our wisdom, and of our independence; yet 
it cannot be denied that the doctrine exposes 
rather ruthlessly the faulty structure of our 
psychical being. Life is not as beautiful as it 
looks. Open a book on medicine and observe 
the number of diseases to which the body is 
liable, it will then seem a miracle that we are 
still alive. Read history and take note of the 
woful mistakes committed by men. 

It is not my object to preach pessimism, but 
it cannot be denied that nature affords little 
encouragement for optimism. The business of 
philosophy is to interpret experience. Man 
wants Truth, and where are we to find supreme 
truth, that truth which alone can save us ? The 
Vedanta says, "Look within." 

Human experience is a mixture of good and 
evil, light and shadow; beyond this lies the 
true Self, identical with God, which is the " non- 
imperceptible" (aparoksha) principle of con- 
sciousness. The reason why the true Self is 
called "non-imperceptible" is because it is 
neither perceived not yet unperceived; pure 
consciousness is the ground of perceiving the 
ego and the non-ego, both of which are the twin 



130 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

offspring of Avidya. We have to reach the Self, 
the knowledge of which will free us from the 
experiences of waking, dream, and dreamless- 
ness. Knowledge alone can save. Not know- 
ledge in the philosophic or scientific sense, but 
the knowledge of our oneness with God which 
is Mukti, or Liberation. 

If the knowledge of the true Self brings libera- 
tion from the net of cosmic error, it must be 
proved that such knowledge is possible. How 
can we know the Atman (the Self -Divine) who 
is free from all subjective and objective attri- 
butes? For knowledge implies a division of 
the sphere of consciousness into subject, which 
knows, and object, which is known. If we know 
Brahman He will become an object for us. To 
this objection it may be replied that in all know- 
ing processes there is a third factor which is 
neither the subject nor the object ; this is called 
the Witness (Sakshi) . This Sakshi is only an im- 
personal presence, unconcerned in the cognitive 
activity of the subject. What is called "subject" 
is the determinate, or maker, of object. We 
know that the subject is sometimes attentive 
and sometimes inattentive, sometimes interested 
and sometimes indifferent. Hence the subject 
may be said to be in an inalienable relation of 
attention and interest with the object. But such 
is not the case with what is called the Sakshi, or 
the Witness, which is not a faculty nor a mode 
of thought, but consciousness pure and simple. 
Moreover the Sakshi is distinguished from the 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 131 

subject by its non-individual character. The 
Sakshi is identical with itself, whereas the sub- 
ject, even in the same person, always changes. 
Now the subject is a thinker of plans, at other 
times the doer of deeds ; but the Sakshi is 
always the witness standing behind, existing by 
its own reality and shining by its own brilliance. 
In sorrow and joy, in work and play, the witness 
stands within. There is another point which 
it is necessary to emphasise. The Sakshi is 
universal because it is common to all. I cannot 
say that the Sakshi in me is different from the 
Sakshi in you. My subjective character is 
different from your subjective character, but 
the Sakshi is the same in all. 

The reality of the Sakshi revealed in intro- 
spection supplies us with the keynote to libera- 
tion. It may be that we are not all sufficiently 
introspective to realise what is meant by Sakshi ; 
but every one who has a desire to attain to the 
highest truth of life and eternity may realise it 
if he is willing to take the trouble (or "make 
the Tapasya" or "Sadhana," as we say in India) 
necessary to its realisation. The preparation 
necessary for initiation into cosmic conscious- 
ness involves the realisation of the nothingness 
of all that we see. The lights and shadows of 
existence are to be separated from pure existence 
itself; for the mind is constantly weaving the 
warp and woof of the cosmos. Each fancy that 
flits across the horizon of the mind is the seed 
of a future world. Desire, which rises like a 



132 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

perpetual spring from the unknown depths of 
the ego, nourishes this seed and helps to germi- 
nate it, and this seedling becomes the tree of life. 
Our bodies contain some immortal elements 
which scientists call cells,which are now acknow- 
ledged to possess a germinal consciousness. 
These cells have kept alive the species of all 
vegetable and animal organisms. In the same 
way, Avidya keeps alive the seeds of desire in the 
store-room of the Karana-sarira (the soul in its 
ultimate form). Hence issues the stream of 
transmigratory life, and hence proceed all our 
troubles and disappointments. We all want to 
know what we are, but the knowledge of our true 
being cannot come from outside, from philo- 
sophy, from religion, or from science. It is 
always with us, within our reach, within the 
reach of thought. Every act of perception con- 
tains within itself the eternity of Being. It is 
the essence of our enjoyment of art, music, and 
poetry. It is the root of our love for God and 
pity for man. It is the fact of the existence of 
God and humanity in one. It is consciousness, 
it is existence, it is joy. We have a faint 
experience of it in Turiya, and we have a vivid 
experience of it in Samadhi. 

In order to attain to the consciousness of the 
Supreme Self, the disciple must approach a 
teacher versed in Brahma-Wisdom. To be a 
worthy disciple it is necessary to possess four 
qualifications, viz. (1) a discriminative intellect, 
(2) controlled will, (3) purified emotions, and (4) 



v MONISM: ABSOLUTE AND COSMOS 133 

a longing for liberation. Without devotion to 
Brahman, progress is not possible. 

I will endeavour to explain in what these four 
qualifications consist. 

(1) The disciple should constantly meditate 
on Brahman as the only Truth to be attained, 
and all else as untruth. 

(2) He is then to train his will. The will is 
to be directed, not towards the appropriation of 
what is agreeable to the senses and desires, but 
towards the realisation of the highest knowledge. 
He is to desire nought of earth or of heaven, 
but the very soul of Brahman. This means the 
renunciation of all work. 

(3) Renunciation of work will conduce to the 
quieting of the emotions. Thus he will cease 
to desire name, fame, or worldly happiness ; he 
will learn to uproot from his heart all passions ; 
in a word, he will turn his eyes for ever from the 
phenomenal and psychical world. This will 
help him to practise forgiveness, equanimity, 
and same-sightedness. 

(4) He will then be able to uproot the very 
idea of the ego ; for the notion of this "I," this 
narrow, mean self, is the greatest stumbling- 
block to the attainment of Divine Wisdom. 

When the disciple becomes free from the pride 
of rank, birth, and ego, he learns to value the 
teachings of his Guru. Gradually his inner eye 
opens and he gets an insight into the secret of 
the eternal Consciousness, and then only he 
obtains a foretaste of liberation. That is so 



134 BRAHMADARSANAM v 

grand, so sublime, so wonderful an experience, 
that the disciple cannot help longing to be 
emancipated from the bondage of this Avidya 
state. The consciousness of the Absolute is the 
crown and glory of religious consciousness ; here 
we are to seek for peace, for beauty, and for 
truth. The dream of life ends and the soul 
awakes to its eternity, conscious of a surpassing 
restfulness, born of the very Being of Truth. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Advaita Brahma Siddhi, by Sadanandayati. 

Svarajya Siddhi. 

Suresvar Acharya's Vritti. 

Nirvana Shathak of Sankara. 

Vedantasara. 

Pratyabijnadarsana. 

Purusha Sukta (Rig Veda). 

Apyaya Dikshita's Vedantakalpataru Parimal. 

Vedanta Paribhasa. 

Madhab Acharya's monograph on Sankara. 



VI 

MONISM: REALISATION OF THE 
ABSOLUTE TRUTH OF LIFE 

The constituents of the universe — Composition of the spirit, 
the soul, and the body — The six circles — The meaning of 
Maya — Man's freedom — Samkhya versus Vedanta — Con- 
sciousness identical with reality. 

The universe is the expression of the Divine. 
The truth of life is also the truth of God. There 
is a mind behind the stellar system. All this 
is Brahman. 

Why do we love to gaze on the blue canopy 
of the summer sky, the many-coloured flowers 
of the spring, the beautiful faces of innocent 
children? Why do we love to listen to the 
symphony of the orchestra, the music of the 
mountain wind playing with the pine trees, the 
mighty voice of lonely waterfalls? Why does 
injustice done to a primitive folk in some distant 
corner of the earth rouse us to indignation and 
nerve our arm to repair it ? Why ? — Because 
the same Self which is in the colour of the sky 
and the sea, in the odour of flowers and in the 

135 



136 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

rhythm of poetry, is also in our hearts. There 
are many things, many forms, many names — 
but one Life. Verily all this is Brahman. 

The Self enjoys and the Self is enjoyed. The 
Self feels and the Self is felt. The Self acts and 
the Self is acted upon. The One becomes many, 
yet remains the same. I am speaking and you 
are listening ; yet it is the same Atman who is 
speaking in me and listening in you. In the 
tree there are many very small cells, each one 
of which is a universe in itself, having a different 
shape, a different sap, a different colour, yet all 
these cells form one tree, having one life and 
being subject to one sensitive system. Look at 
the animal organism; it also is a multiplicity 
of universes, an infinite number of what is called 
cell-souls. All these cell-souls cohere, bound 
together by a law and informed by a life which 
is invisible. Let us turn our eyes on to the work- 
ings of Nature. There the universal Prana (life) 
moves on the surface of the universal Akasa, 
the all-pervading space. 

"This universe of life, mind, and matter are 
modes of vibration of the Universal Reason" — 
yat bhutam sthulam suksam cha tatsarva mana 
parispandita mdtram, as Sankara says. This 
Universal Reason is a substantive, quasi-ma- 
terial Life principle and Mind, but different 
from the all-mirroring Chaitanya (Intelligence) 
which is immaterial and transcendent. 

The circulation of Prana is the most wonder- 
ful fact of Nature. All the bodies of living 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 137 

animals are formed out of the Prana of ether. 
The seaweeds called Algse, by using their chloro- 
phyll, draw nourishment from sunbeams and 
build up their bodies, which are eaten up by the 
"copepod plankton," upon which the mackerel 
feeds, and man eats the mackerel. It is the 
same with vegetation on land. The entire 
economy of marine as of land life depends upon 
the power of photo-synthesis which vegetable 
life is supposed to possess. Thus we see that 
there is one never-ending substance which starts 
in the form of original prana, builds up the ether 
particles, becomes sun and transforms itself into 
chlorophyll ; these transformations are followed 
by a series of incarnations, viz. the minute Algse, 
the seaweeds, the fishes, vegetation on land, proto- 
plasm, animals, and man. The inorganic world 
supports the organic, and the latter again returns 
to the former. Plant and animal organisms die 
and their remains go to augment the store of 
inorganic matter. All forms of organisms live 
through photo-synthesis, and their death means 
photo-analysis. Creation, according to the 
Vedanta, is the evolution of latent energy (Anud- 
bhuta Sakti) in a new collocation (Avayava 
Sannivesa). The Prana becomes psychical, 
vegetable, or animal organism, according as it 
operates under the conditions of ether, air, 
heat, or light, etc. One reality assumes the 
dual form of cause and effect, the latter being 
identical with the former, because they are 
one in essence, for, as Ushasti says, "It is the 



138 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

Life (Prana) ; all these beings — organic and 
inorganic, visible and invisible — enter into 
Life and unto Life do they arise." 

This Prana, which is the formative substance 
of the universe, evolves under the will of Isvara 
out of Akasa, or all-pervading space. We are 
inclined to look upon space as blank and empty ; 
this idea of Akasa as offering no resistance (e.g. 
as when we move our hand) is purely negative. 
It is very interesting to know what the ancient 
Hindus thought about Akasa, for they delighted 
to speculate upon its origin and structure. 

As it is difficult to understand the Vedantic 
cosmology without first comprehending the 
doctrine of evolution from Akasa, I shall 
briefly sketch Vijnana-Bhikshu's views on the 
subject. 

Akasa is the name given to a kind of primordial 
matter which possesses neither the character- 
istics of theTanmatras nor the dynamic qualities 
associated with the Paramanus. We cannot say 
that it possesses impenetrability, which is gener- 
ally supposed to be the primary quality ofmatter, 
but it is ubiquitous. It is certain that Akasa is 
vibratory, but then we have to consider Akasa 
in its twofold aspect — original and derivative, 
the first forming an undifferentiated mass in 
nature, while the latter emanates, on the original 
equilibrium being disturbed at the beginning of 
creation, as the three Gunas — sattva, raja, and 
tama — in definite proportion, so as to build up 
the universe through transformation of energy. 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 139 

All the species of things arise through the action 
of cosmic energy upon cosmic mass. 

We will now consider the first product of the 
action of cosmic energy upon cosmic mass. The 
subtile Sabda is regarded as the first evolution. 
There is a great reason for supposing that the 
first product is subtile sound, because vibration 
cannot continue long without producing sound. 
This sound is not exactly what we perceive with 
our ears, which is gross sound. This idea that 
Akasa or space evolves Sabda, or sound, helps 
us to understand how Akasa can be both a cause 
and an effect. As cause it is the empty space, so 
to speak ; as effect, it is the subtile sound. This 
ancient theory receives great support from 
modern investigations into X-rays and ether. 

If we regard electricity as a vibratory form 
of ether existing in vast space, we have no 
difficulty in understanding this theory of Akasa. 

The evolution of the Tanmatras as well as of 
theMahabhutas can be understood in the follow- 
ing way. It will help us to follow the process 
if we remember three terms : (1) A Samavarana, 
or a surrounding medium or " atmosphere" 
within which the process takes place ; (2) Vikur- 
van, by which is meant the process of (a) mass- 
disintegration and (6) emanation ; and (3) Upas- 
tambha, or transformation and redirection of 
energy. Thus, mass being acted upon by energy, 
disintegrates, and produces the Samavarana, the 
Tanmatra called Sabda. From this Sabda, which 
is, so to speak, a vibratory infra-atom, through 



140 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

condensation and collocation and accumulation 
of mass evolves gross ether (gross Akasa) . From 
this gross ether, by the same process of disintegra- 
tion and emanation within the Sama varana, arises 
Sparsa Tanmatra, or impact, which is felt by 
touch. The Sparsa Tanmatra, moved by impact 
and accumulating a new quantum of matter, 
through condensation and collocation evolves the 
Marut element, which is the ground of all gaseous 
matter. From the Marut element, now charged 
with energy, vibration, and impact, through dis- 
integration and emanation under the influence 
of energy evolves the Rupa Tanmatra, which 
is the source of light, heat, and colour. 

From Rupa Tanmatra, charged with light, etc., 
and accumulating mass, through condensation 
and collocation evolves the Tej element, which is 
the source of electricity. From this Tej element, 
by the same process, evolves the Rasa Tanmatra, 
from which through condensation and collocation 
arises the Ap element, which is the basis of all 
liquids and of caste-stimulus. From the Ap ele- 
ment through disintegration evolves the Gandha 
Tanmatra, charged with four Tanmatras, and is 
the source of the Ksiti element, the ground of 
all solids and of smell stimulus. 

Here we may notice that a gross element, or 
Bhuta, is derived from a subtile element, or 
Tanmatra, and that each successive Bhuta is 
endowed with the attributes of all the preceding 
ones in addition to its own specific qualities. 

The universe, including the vital principle 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 141 

which is associated with the psychical principle 
through the intermediary of what is called the 
Great Sympathetic, has evolved out of the same 
Akasa under the guidance of Isvara, the Lord. 
The human being is not a simple but a complex 
organism, consisting of (1) a central, (2) an inner, 
and (3) an outer body. The central body or 
the spirit is the Karana, or noumenal self — 
the first reflection of Brahman in the mirror of 
Avidya, as intuited in the consciousness of 
Susupti, or dreamless sleep. In the Karana body 
the Self reveals Itself as an individual, devoid of 
all Upadhi, i.e. unconditioned byname and form. 
There the reflection of the Divine remains buried 
within the gloom of nescience, like a diamond 
within the bowels of the earth, or a seed inside 
the soil. As consciousness and brain are associ- 
ated together, so the central Karana self is 
joined to the primal Avidya. The consciousness 
which is lodged in the Karana body remains in 
a non-differenced form which may be compared 
to the mind of a child before birth. It has not 
yet diffused or expanded itself over the dual 
field of "mine" and "thine." The reason why 
it is said in the Vedanta that the reflection of 
Brahman-consciousness remains surrounded by 
nescience is that the Karana body, which is 
formed of Prana-Akasa substance, does not 
emerge before the consciousness in its true light. 
When we are lost in the gloom of deep sleep we 
are certainly unaware of the constitution of that 
which covers our self -consciousness. But if you 



142 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

ask how we are to know the composition of the 
Karana body after we awake, the answer is to 
be found in the fact that the nature of the causal 
Akasa is "emptiness" and "all-pervasiveness," 
and the nature of Prana is to "guide." In 
dreamless sleep we have the negative experience 
of a "nothing," of "empty content," and of a 
sudden expansion of the essence of self. Added 
to this there is another experience of rest. The 
life principle, or Prana, leaves the outer organ- 
ism, the plane of sensation and the plane of will, 
rises above the plane of higher thought, and ulti- 
mately reaches the very haven of peace. Prana 
guides itself to the inner sanctuary of bliss. Thus 
it is evident that pure consciousness is encircled 
by the ring of subtile Prana and subtile Akasa 
which together form the Karana body. The 
word Karana means cause ; it is called Karana, 
or causal body, because it is composed of the 
substance of causal Akasa and causal Prana. 
There is another reason why it is called the 
Karana body, and that is because the entire 
empirical history of man lies here in its potential 
form ; just as causal space may be regarded as 
the mother of the universe which unfolds itself 
in time and ether as the stellar and solar systems, 
so the seeds of life history, like designs on a 
carpet, lie engraved within the Karana body, 
which is therefore regarded as the first self- 
alienation of Brahman, enduring as long as a 
complete Kalpa (or cycle), and being in the end 
absorbed into Brahman. 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 143 

The Karana body is called Sakti-Atman (the 
soul containing power or capacity), and Vija- 
atman (the soul containing the seed of life and 
the functions of mind) . Surrounding the Karana 
body, and next in order to it, is the Suksma 
body (soul), which is the seat of understanding 
and volition. The five senses of perception, 
the five senses of action, and the five vital Pranas 
are located in Mana, or Mind, or, as it is some- 
times called, the Antakarana, the "inner ruler." 
There is also another faculty called the Buddhi, 
which sometimes functions as the synthetic 
activity in perception, and sometimes as mind 
in general. Along with the last must be counted 
the Ahamkar — the sense of "I," or self -con- 
sciousness — whose object is the practical ego, but 
which is in its turn observed in the intuitive way 
by the eternal "I," the Samvit, or the Sakshi. 

Surrounding the Suksma body, and next in 
order to it, appears the Sthula, or gross body of 
flesh and blood which is cast off at death. All 
these three bodies are regarded as outer coatings, 
sheaths, or affiliations (Upadhis) of the Self. 
These Upadhis have, no less than the universe, 
their constituent matter Prana. 

Sarvam prdnamayam jag at, "all the universe 
is filled with Prana." All creatures have arisen 
out of Prana and dwell in Prana. The Sthula 
body is the physiological system containing the 
six principal centres, or great plexuses of the 
sympathetic nerve system, which are called 
(1) Muladhara, (2) Svadhisthana, (3) Manipura, 



144 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

(4) Anahata, (5) Vishuddha, (6) Sahasrara. 
These plexuses are connected by three principal 
nerves. All the faculties, powers, colours, sounds, 
figures, names, have their seats in these centres. 
This subject is very little understood in the West 
and it is difficult to find the proper technical 
terms for translating this system of the six 
circles into any European language, but this 
much I can say, and that is that all our concep- 
tions of life, love, art, religion, philosophy, and 
liberation arise within the consciousness through 
their co-ordination with the centre, or group of 
centres, plexus, or group of plexuses, seated 
within the brain and the great sympathetic 
system of the human body. 

The physiological centres contain the entire 
experience of the race. The human body is in 
one aspect the crystallisation of the hopes and 
fears and achievements of the race, and in another 
aspect the expression of God's mind. Man sees 
God through the glasses of the higher physiologi- 
cal centres, as he sees the cosmos through those 
of the lower centres. Each of these Chakramas 
(centres) contains many concentric spheres, and 
each sphere has its Deva (spirit), Varna (light), 
Mantra (sound), and its Sakti (power). The 
first may be the seat of power, the second the 
seat of love, the third the seat of knowledge, 
the fourth the seat of renunciation, the fifth the 
seat of liberation, and the sixth the seat of the 
Absolute. We may call the Shatchakram, which 
is situated within the physiology of man, the 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 145 

Tree of Life, the root of which is in Brahman, 
the Absolute. This Tree of Life can be per- 
ceived by those in whom the Kundalini (the 
serpentine power), which sleeps inside the last 
circle, or Muladhar, is awakened. 

The Yogi knows how to handle the Kundalini, 
which is the lever of that consciousness in which 
the individual realises his oneness with the 
Absolute. The possibility of man's attaining to 
perfect ethical consciousness, as well as to super- 
human powers, lies in the Kundalini, which can 
transform the quality and direction of the ac- 
tivity of cell-life. There are millions of brain- 
cells that are lying asleep. An absence of the 
moral sense implies the paralysis of certain cells, 
just as bodily ill-health denotes the inactivity 
of some other cells. The body is the house of 
Brahman; in fact, each cell holds within its 
Akasa (ether) an image of Brahman. Moreover, 
the Prana which each cell contains has the power 
to realise the Absolute. In each cell there is 
intellect, will and_ action corresponding to Brah- 
man (Absolute), Akasa (space), and Prana (life). 

The world is a form of consciousness, and the 
six Darsanas are forms of consciousness evoked 
by the six circles within our physiology. With 
the excitation of the centre of pity, we feel the 
warmth of universal brotherhood and we realise 
the truth of Buddha's teaching. When the 
centre of good is stimulated, we feel "all is for 
good," and thus learn the inestimable wisdom 
of Siva's teaching. When the centre of power 



146 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

is awakened, we realise our own power and 
appreciate the truth of Sakti's saying that God 
is omnipotent. The stimulation of the centre 
faith is followed by a consciousness of love 
for, and trust in, God, and we are converted to 
Vishnu's religion that God is love. To awaken 
the consciousness of God as Light, which is 
Surya's teaching, the centre of light has to be 
excited. Lastly, to realise the oneness of man 
with Brahman, which is Brahman's teaching, 
the centre of identity is to be awakened. Thus 
these centres are called respectively : Bauddha, 
Saiva, Sakta, Vaisnava, Soura, and Brahma, 
after the illustrious sages who discovered them. 
The Shatchakram, situated within the Great 
Sympathetic and the solar plexus, exercises an 
architectural power by presiding over the forma- 
tion of the life of the body and the senses. The 
creative impetus, which emanates from the 
Divine, is communicated to the Kundalini, or 
serpentine power which is in Yoganidra, i.e. 
"sleeping the sleep of trance." Religious con- 
version cannot take place unless the Kundalini 
is awakened. We perceive all supersensible 
truths through the awakening of the Kundalini. 
The resurrection of the soul from the grave of 
untruth becomes an actual fact as soon as the 
Kundalini is awakened. The perception of 
beauty, which is an attribute of the Self, fills 
the heart with joy as soon as the Kundalini is 
awakened. Health is also a gift of Kundalini ; 
Kundalini is the mother of joy, of sweet rest, of 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 147 

sleep, of health, of faith, and of wisdom. Medi- 
tate on the Kundalini, and all the sweetness of 
Heaven and the power of space will be yours; 
Kundalini is the queen, the guide and the voice 
of life. 

The question will be asked as to how this 
serpentine power is to be awakened. The re- 
generation of mankind will come through the 
right understanding and right manipulation of 
this hidden power, and the reformation of the 
criminal as well as the education of children 
must proceed according to the method which 
teaches the transformation of the animal into 
the human, and the transfiguration of the human 
into the Divine. 

In order to awaken the Kundalini, we must, 
in the first place, realise that the human soul is 
essentially Divine and identical with God. Each 
individual by himself or herself is illusory, but 
in Itself is the whole, indivisible, infinite, all- 
knowing, all-pervading, eternal, changeless, and 
all-powerful Brahman ; as such, without limita- 
tions, without organs, neither sinning nor suffer- 
ing, neither an agent of action nor an enjoyer 
of the fruits of action, but pure existence, pure 
essence, pure being, pure consciousness. The soul 
is an onlooker (Sakshi) — present as an eternal 
element in all feelings, in all perceptions, and in 
all conceptions. The disciple should remember 
that this Sakshi, by its conjunction or associa- 
tion with or transcendental influence upon the 
phantom-mass or the shadow-substance of Maya, 



148 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

evolves a new power called Isvara, the creative 
spirit. Isvara, by manipulating the substance of 
Maya, creates the cosmos. All thoughts, all cells, 
all powers are creative ; human will is reproduc- 
tive; the cells of our brains are reproductive. 
The Sakshi expresses itself through Isvara and 
Isvara through Maya. The Jiva (individual) is 
an epitome of the Sakshi, Isvara, and Maya. 

A word of explanation on Maya is necessary 
here : Maya stands for the jsubstance or matter 
of the universe, i.e. Prana, Akasa, life and ether. 
It also stands for the power to realise the unreal, 
to make the non-existent existent, to make evil 
appear good, the untrue as true. This mysteri- 
ous, incomprehensible, unbelievable element, 
composed of the stuff our dreams, fears, and 
illusions are made of, is the Maya out of which 
Is vara fabricates these stellar and solar universes. 
Maya is the matter of Bramanda — the universe 
consisting of fourteen spheres — and Avidya is 
the substance of the Jiva, the individual. Isvara 
is the Lord of Maya, and Jiva is the creature of 
Maya. But as Isvara has unlimited power over 
Maya, the power, that is, of creation and destruc- 
tion, so the Jiva has also some limited power of 
direction over Maya. Jiva's intelligence is a 
reflection of Brahman, and as such His power, 
His wisdom and holiness are all present in a 
diminutive form in Jiva. Isvara is untouched 
by the evil of the world, whereas Jiva is over- 
whelmed by evil, although through knowledge 
of Vedanta he is able to neutralise the evil that 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 149 

torments him ; that is to say that the Jiva can 
become Brahman by liberating his soul from 
error. The disciple must claim the creative and 
destructive power of Isvara in thought and come 
to a consciousness of his own directive power 
with a view (1) to create wisdom, goodness, 
power, and health ; (2) to destroy unwisdom, sin, 
error, and weakness, and then (3) to direct his 
newly acquired power and wisdom to effect his 
perfection and liberation. 

The perfect man sees the Sakshi, Isvara, Maya, 
and Jiva as the moments of one Reality; but 
to those who are still struggling all these are like 
so many heterogeneous realities, unresolvable 
into the One. These ideas which suggest that 
the Jivas are all different, that the world is dif- 
ferent from Isvara, that Isvara is different from 
the Sakshi, and that Sakshi is different from 
the Jiva, are all fabrications of Avidya. That 
is to say that from the standpoint of Jnana 
(perfect knowledge), nothing save Brahman is 
true, while from the standpoint of Ajnana 
(ignorance), nothing save the manifold of sense 
is true. The former (knowledge) has its neural 
counterpart in the highest Chakram in the brain, 
while the latter (ignorance) has its neural coun- 
terpart in the lowest Chakram situated within 
the solar plexus. The disciple must meditate on 
the solar plexus to see the content of Ajnana 
when all the bad Samskars, which oppose our 
progress through a power which has been accumu- 
lated in countless past lives, have to be rubbed 



150 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

off, effaced, and obliterated; this process of 
obliteration can be carried on by concentrating 
the attention on this lowest Chakram, and the 
result of such concentration will be that some 
of the powers come under the control of the 
will and are thus harnessed for the development 
of the spiritual faculties. In this way the Yogis 
say that all the principal and subordinate Chak- 
rams are to be "pierced" and thus perfection 
is to be attained. But the art of raising the 
Kundalini should only be learned from a quali- 
fied Guru. 

The possibility of self-control and self -reforma- 
tion lies in the fact of the freedom of the will. 
The cosmic will, out of which the universe has 
emanated, is identical with the human will. 
Isvara's will moulds, shapes, and directs the 
matter of the universe, and so the human will 
can control the fancies, desires, and thoughts of 
the heart. Hence it follows that man is respon- 
sible for his thoughts and actions ; evil thoughts 
and deeds are — through the unity of the human 
and Divine will — punished by the degradation 
of the brain-form, while good thoughts and 
deeds are — through the operation of the unity 
of wills — rewarded by an elevation of the brain- 
form. 

The truth of this statement is demonstrated 
in our e very-day experience of the objectification 
and materialisation of the will . Criminal thoughts 
and tendencies change the facial expression, the 
tone of the voice, and the rhythm of muscular 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 151 

movement, and they afterwards react upon the 
psychical faculties with the result that human 
affections become transformed into brutal in- 
stincts. Such persons seek out lower forms of 
organisms for their next incarnations. On the 
other hand, good thoughts and good conduct 
change the facial expression, the tone, looks, and 
manners. The power of mental habit over the 
body can be observed in the case of tragic or 
comic actors who have been a long time on the 
stage. The principle by which such changes 
are brought about has a metaphysical value. 1 

The Samkhya philosophers taught that mind 
cannot be conceived of as separate from matter, 
although there is a distinction between the two, 
both mind and matter having evolved from a 
substance which is neither mind nor matter. 
How can we explain the growth of an elephant 
from a single egg-cell? How does conscious- 
ness come? To this Kapila would reply that 
the mind of the elephant has evolved spontane- 
ously out of the sattva of nature, for sattva is 
consciousness subsisting in a latent form in 
nature, and that this subconsciousness has 
evolved pari passu with the development of 
the organism, but (this is the peculiarity of 
Kapila's philosophy) presided over by the soul 
(Purusha). Without the presence of Purusha 
the egg-cell would decompose (Sutra, lx. ch. vi.). 

But this theory of Kapila's leaves many 
points unexplained : for if, as it is said, Purusha, 

1 See Appendix. 



152 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

or soul, is inactive and free while Prakriti is 
also inactive, how can the combination of two 
inactive substances bring about the activity of 
sentiency ? Kapila would answer that sentiency 
is developed through the contact of soul with 
matter. But why should soul come into contact 
with matter at all ? The answer is Aviveka, the 
want of self-knowledge on the part of Purusha 
which deludes it (the soul) to look on the Mahat, 
Ahamkar, and Indriyas as its own. Here it may 
be questioned why, if, as Kapila says, Purusha is 
eternally self-conscious, should it be conscious 
of itself when touched by Prakriti? To this 
the answer is that Purusha is really indifferent 
and unconcerned, it simply looks on Prakriti as 
a man looks on a pretty dancing girl and feels 
enchanted, allowing himself to be overcome by 
love. Prakriti is the whole theatre of nature, in- 
cluding the processes of perception and emotion, 
pain and pleasure, volition and cognition. The 
growth of individuality, i.e. of the sentiment of 
love for life and of desire for achievement and 
success, takes place while the soul is witnessing, 
like the man watching the rhythmical move- 
ments of the dancer. 

No sooner does the Purusha close its eyes than 
Prakriti ceases to work for it, though there are 
hundreds of other souls who will come under its 
influence. Liberation is the turning away of 
the eye of the soul from the cosmic picture, but 
Prakriti will never be destroyed, because there 
will always be plenty of souls who are ready to 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 153 

be enchanted. In Kapila's philosophy, Kaivalya, 
or liberation (literally "aloofness"), is the gift 
of Prakriti. Kaivalya is freedom from pain 
and sorrow. 

Vedanta has treated the same subject from 
a very different point of view. Unlike the Sam- 
khya, Vedanta recognises one only Reality, the 
nature of which is truth and joy. Brahman is 
the truth of truth, the joy of joy. By the side 
of Brahman there is no other existence, no 
other bliss, and no other reality. Whenever 
we say "yea," our voices echo the voice of that 
Eternal Yea ; about Brahman we can only say 
"OM" (Yea). 

Brahman's truth is revealed in higher know- 
ledge and reflected in lower knowledge; in 
higher knowledge Brahman is the very freedom 
of eternity. Brahman is complete and perfect 
and blissful. Brahman cannot be understood, 
because He is the understanding itself. He 
cannot be enjoyed, because He is the essence of 
joy, attributeless and impersonal, independent 
and self-sufficient. Brahman is not to be 
thought of as the cause of creation, for He is 
without motive and there is nothing outside of 
Him to create. He is all-embracing, all-con- 
scious, and all-complete. He is only to be 
indicated by the word OM (Yea). This Brah- 
man is to be known in higher knowledge. 

What then is this world, and what is man? 
The question itself brings us into the sphere 
of lower knowledge. In higher knowledge there 



154 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

is neither question nor answer, for there is no 
one to question and none to answer; there is 
nothing but the silence of Aparoksha (wisdom) . 
The lower knowledge indicates a state of 
separateness from the Truth of Brahman, it 
is the beginning of duality, which is Avidya. 

The super-consciousness of Samadhi is sharply 
distinguished from ordinary consciousness which 
gives an individuality to every sensation, every 
feeling, and every fancy. The Selfside of things, 
which is identical with Brahman, is lost sight 
of in the heterogeneity and multiplicity of pre- 
sentative and representative objects. All objects 
are illusive and unintelligible ; for example, here 
is a flower : try to understand its nature. We 
always understand a thing when we view it in 
the light of its cause. The flower produces 
certain sensations of colour, smell, etc., in the 
mind, but these sensations only help us to 
connect the name of the flower, e.g. rose, with 
its peculiar colour and smell, they do not help us 
to understand what the flower is in itself. What 
is the cause of the flower? The flower is on 
the tree, the tree is the parent of the flower; 
the leaves of the tree have, by a natural process, 
been modified into the form of a rose. Do we 
know the cause of the tree ? We observe that 
the growth of its life is dependent upon the 
atmosphere and terrestrial conditions, such as 
moisture, heat, nitrogen, carbon, etc., and here 
we may say that these elements of nature have 
by a natural law been modified into the form of 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 155 

the tree, i.e. its life, its colour, its leaves, etc., 
but have we yet understood the flower ? What 
is this law which we are assuming at every step ? 
We make a vague guess that there are forces 
which are inherent in atoms and that these 
forces operate according to a system ; but what 
are these forces, and what are these atoms? 
Some say they are electricity, others say ether. 
Do these names help us to understand the 
mystery of the flower and the still greater 
mystery of our enjoyment of the beauty of the 
flower ? One question lurks behind another, and 
mystery envelops mystery; what we hear is 
nothing but a series of endless names and names 
and names. What we see is a series of shapes 
and forms and movements. One name is ex- 
plained by another name, and one shape is 
explained by another shape. These names of 
outer objects give rise to various feelings, such 
as satisfaction, or pleasure, or pain, etc., which 
are also names of inner objects or mental 
shapes. These inner feelings give rise to move- 
ments, such as when we stretch a hand to pluck 
the rose, or when we turn our faces away at the 
sight of some hideous object. 

Thus we see that the universe is a mysterious 
conglomeration of name, form, and movement, 
as Sri Sankara says : " Kdrya-kdrana-ndma-rupa- 
prapancha." Philosophers say that this mys- 
terious world is begotten of another mysterious 
pair called time and space. This mystery is 
what the Vedantin calls Maya. The Lord is 



156 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

the Master of this show, and we are like dancing 
girls in disguise. Man is only a name, woman 
is only a name, yet these two names charm one 
another. Civilisation is nothing but a dream 
of agreeable shadows, as the mystic poet of 
the East says : 

We are no other than a moving row 
Of visionary Shapes that come and go 

Round with this Sun-illumined lantern held 
In midnight by the Master of the show. 1 

The greatest of all Maya is the thought that 
some forms of Maya are worth more than others. 
Thus life appears of more worth than death. 

Man is playing about in the midnight of 
Avidya. There is no knowledge possible of 
Maya, the nature of which is non-knowledge; 
therefore the wise say, Leave Maya alone. 

But where is the Maya — the untruth that 
captivates, the shadow that rules? Is it in 
human society, in nature, or in Heaven ? Long 
ago I was wandering in the beautiful forest of 
Brindaban, and one morning as I sat under a 
tree I was quite charmed with the freshness of 
the spring landscape ; it was a perfect paradise 
for song-birds, peacocks, and deer; the river 
Jumna with her crystal waters was flowing by. 
I sat thinking and wondering whether all the 
birds and flowers and the music of the waters 
was nothing but Maya, when suddenly my 
reverie was broken by a voice saying: "There 
is Maya within the family circle, Maya on the 

1 Omar Khayyam, lxxiii. 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 157 

broad streets of the world, Maya in the clouds, 
and Maya even in the Lord's Heaven ; there is 
no time in which there is no Maya, and no place 
where there is not Maya. Mind is Maya." 

I opened my eyes and met the smiling gaze of 
a Sannyasin who was standing before me. He 
had read my thoughts and came to solve my 
doubts. He continued: "You are young, and 
yet you have left home and parents to don the 
orange robe of the monk in search of truth and 
peace. My child, the mind is the citadel of 
Maya and the world its outworks. Conquer 
the citadel, and the outworks will fall of them- 
selves." After saying this he went his way, leaving 
me to muse in the silence of my own meditation. 

Brahman is truth, Maya is untruth ; Brahman 
is Being, Maya is becoming ; Brahman is Eternity, 
Maya is time; Brahman is existence, Maya is 
the cosmos ; Brahman is consciousness, Maya is 
mind; Brahman is Reality, Maya is power; 
Brahman is everything, and Maya is nothing; 
Brahman is intuition, Maya is intelligence; 
Brahman is Wisdom, Maya is knowledge ; Brah- 
man is joy, and Maya is pleasure. Brahman is 
the spectator, Maya is the phantasy of dream ; 
Brahman is the Samvid of sound sleep, Maya is 
the general torpor of sleep; Brahman is the 
Prana (super-consciousness) of Turiya, and 
Maya is non-existence. All Maya implies all 
Brahman, but All Brahman implies no Maya. 

Sri Ramakrishna used to say that in the 
super-consciousness of higher Samadhi the truth 



158 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

of the saying "All is Brahman" becomes plain; 
while in the sub-consciousness of lower Samadhi 
the truth of the "personal God" can be felt, 
and in the ordinary waking consciousness 
Kapila's teaching about Prakriti appears to be 
a fact. 

Ramakrishna also said that the manifold of 
name and form has evolved out of Brahma- 
consciousness. As it is impossible to draw a 
line between ocean and the waves, so it is im- 
possible to differentiate Brahman from Creation. 
To us as personal beings endowed with limited 
consciousness God cannot but reveal Himself 
as a Personal Being, for our intellect, being of 
the nature of attributes, can only conceive of 
a Divine Personality endowed with great attri- 
butes. But men can, through Yoga, transcend 
his individual attributes and personal limitations. 
In the silence of Samadhi, when the mind does 
not argue about existence in the abstract as 
different from existence in the concrete, he 
realises the Impersonal. In thinking of Monism 
(Advaita), we cannot but assume Dualism 
(Dvaitam), for the numerical integer is associ- 
ated in our mind with other figures. It is idle 
to speak of the "One Absolute" when you have 
not got rid of such pairs of ideas as "personal" 
as opposed to "the Impersonal," "changeable" 
as opposed to "the Unchangeable," "One" as 
opposed to "many," and "the Absolute" as 
opposed to the "relative." 

Thus it will be seen that Brahman, as seen 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 159 

through the glass of the intellect, appears as the 
universe, and, when this process is reversed, 
that is, when in Samadhi Brahman sees Him- 
self, there is no longer any universe. 

The relation of Maya to Brahman is difficult 
to explain, because, first of all, Brahman is 
Absolute Existence, while Maya is absolute non- 
existence, therefore the question arises as to 
how Absolute Reality can be related to absolute 
unreality. Secondly, Brahman is eternal but 
Maya is perpetual, i.e. active while time lasts. 
How then can Brahman, who is eternally in- 
active, induce Maya to create the world? In 
answer to the first question, it may be said that 
Brahman is real; all reality can belong to 
Brahman only. If pure consciousness is identi- 
cal with pure existence, then the latter cannot 
be ascribed to any other than Brahman, for all 
that we mean by reality has its source in Brahman 
and cannot be separated from Brahman. If we 
ascribe existence to any other by the side of 
Brahman, by doing so we limit and circumscribe 
Brahman; and in that case completeness and 
perfection cannot be ascribed to Brahman. As 
Brahman is consciousness, and as we cannot, 
in any way, qualify the conscious existence of 
Brahman with the notion of cause and effect, 
of persistence and change, of time and space, 
of position and movement — without destroying 
the self -same identity and independence of Brah- 
man, there is no other language wherewith to 
describe Brahman than by saying, "Brahman 



160 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

is." Even the word "existence" must not be 
taken to be an attribute or quality or mode of 
Brahman, for this word "existence" has to be 
used simply for the sake of the pupils who have 
not yet realised Brahman. From the stand- 
point of the highest Samadhi, Brahman is un- 
conditioned and attributeless, neither personal 
nor impersonal, nor even unpersonal, still less 
infra-personal ; yet Brahman is not an abstrac- 
tion, but an actuality in whom perfection has 
been still more perfected in the most blissful 
way, the completeness of which is the very truth 
of freedom. 

In order to bring home this teaching about 
Nirguna Brahman (the unconditioned Brahman), 
Whom none can understand who has not entered 
into the highest Samadhi, we may use a simile, 
but it is a simile which must not be stretched 
very far. If we say that all light — solar light, 
lunar light, polar light, zodiac light, electric light 
gas light, candle light, phosphorescence, nerve 
light, radium light, petrol light, etc., originate 
in ether, what is it that we really mean ? Perhaps 
we mean that ether is the cause of all these 
lights, or we may mean that ether transforms 
itself into various lights ; or we may mean that 
light is the same thing as ether, that light and 
ether are two words which both denote the fact 
of luminousness, that being not only inseparable 
from ether but completely identical with it. 

In the same way, following the analogy of the 
last meaning, we may say that consciousness is 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 161 

Brahman, i.e. all consciousness — consciousness 
in the personal God, in the Devas, in man, in 
animals, in plants, in minerals, in electrons — 
all these imply the Brahman-existence. We may 
say that consciousness and Brahman-existence 
are two words, but they mean One Reality ; we 
may say that consciousness is not only insepa- 
rable from existence but that it is identical with 
existence, and that there can be nothing else 
except Brahman, One, universal, immanent, 
transcendent, real, blissful, perfect, and true. 

The second question may now be considered, 
viz., How can Brahman be thought of in associa- 
tion with the illusory Maya? We must start 
our discussion with the premise that no such 
association or conjunction of Brahman with 
Maya can take place from Brahman's point of 
view, and that it is therefore only relatively 
valid, i.e. it belongs not to true knowledge but 
to Avidya. The world, so the teaching goes, is 
neither real nor unreal, neither ideal nor material, 
has neither beginning nor end, is neither moral 
nor non-moral. It is incomprehensible and un- 
definable ; it is as mysterious as the forms and 
shapes conjured up by the art of the magician. 
In Samadhi the Yogi does not perceive its exist- 
ence, just as we are not conscious of its existence 
in deep slumber. In God-vision the world of 
change does not appear in the field of conscious- 
ness as in dream, when we only see images, but 
not the objective world, which only exists for 
us during our waking hours. When we say that 

M 



162 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

the world is real, we mean no more than that 
the contents of waking perception are real ; thus 
it is, at best, only a part of consciousness which 
gives rise to the sense of reality, and even that 
part is not free from error. Can we say that 
all the contents of waking consciousness are 
real ? No. Our knowledge of the outer world 
proceeds from the senses, and how easily the 
mind can be deceived by the senses ! The senses 
have their limitations; this becomes evident 
when we consider how readily the mind is in- 
fluenced by suggestion causing mere ideas to 
assume the forms of reality. Goethe describes 
in his Erlkonig how a child dies of fright in his 
father's arms while the latter is carrying him 
on horseback through a stormy night ; the boy 
imagines that the "Erlkonig" is trying to snatch 
him away, and he thus becomes a prey to the 
phantom of his own imagination. 

I could cite many examples which prove how 
powerful is the influence which the mind exerts 
over the body. There was once a man who, 
though by no means a coward, was terrified of 
snakes. One evening a friend of his played a 
practical joke which cost him his life. While 
they were sitting with a party of four others by 
the side of the river Ganges, this friend, who had 
concealed in his coat pocket a rubber snake 
which had the appearance of a cobra, suddenly 
threw it on to the man's leg. He gave a loud 
shriek and exclaimed, "A cobra has bitten 
me!" and so saying, he fell senseless to the 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 163 

ground, and before anything could be done to 
revive him, life was found to be extinct. 

Hypnotists are able to cause an inflammation 
on any part of the skin by simply touching the 
spot with a finger ; thus, by means of suggestion, 
burns and blisters can be produced. Todermal 
(an Indian statesman) is said to have died within 
a week after seeing the figure of a black devil in 
a dream. The celebrated rope trick, performed 
by Indian conjurers, is another instance of the 
power of suggestion. A man throws a long rope 
into the air, and to the eyes of the spectators 
the rope appears to be hanging down from the 
sky. Then a boy goes up it, like a sailor climbing 
the rigging, only the boy disappears from view, 
and after the lapse of a few minutes his arms 
legs, trunk, etc., fall to the ground. The con- 
jurer weeps over the fate of the poor boy, and 
the spectators become greatly agitated. Pres- 
ently he collects the limbs one by one, and places 
them inside a wooden box ; then he touches the 
box with his wand and opens it, whereupon the 
same boy, with all his limbs whole, comes out 
smiling, and the spectators heave a sigh of relief. 
Many other wonderful tricks are done in India, 
such as producing living animals and trees out 
of nothing. 

Greater wonders than those shown by pro- 
fessional tricksters are demonstrated by Yogis, 
such as the creation of many bodies of the Yogi 
himself appearing simultaneously before many 
persons or living for months and years under- 



164 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

ground without food ; or levitation, or the crea- 
tion of phantom towns peopled with phantom 
figures. All these things are illusion, but they 
are facts of illusion. When we see them, they 
carry with them the conviction of reality and 
we cannot disbelieve them ; it is only afterwards 
that we realise that they were illusions. It is 
the same with this universe with its suns and 
stars, its mountains and rivers, its loves and 
hates, its peace and its wars. They are all real 
as long as we are in ignorance and in the grip 
of Avidya, but we realise them as illusions when 
our souls are illuminated by knowledge. Then 
we no longer feel interested in the affairs of this 
Passing Show. 1 

Thus we can understand the answer to the 
second question. Brahman reflected in the 
magic mirror of Maya appears to us as the 
Creator of the Universe. In thought we link 
the Absolute with the relative, the One with 
the many, and thus we relate the world with an 
all-mighty creative intellect, called Isvara, who 
is the first self -alienation of Brahman. Isvara 
is not the creator of Maya but only its director 
and master. The same Brahman reflected in 
Avidya is Jiva, or the individual. Out of the 
illusory Maya, "the Lord of this all-show" has 
made the world of time and space, cause and 
effect, life and matter. Jiva is also making his 
world of religion and philosophy, morality and 
government, art, science and commerce out of 

1 See Appendix. 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 165 

Avidya. There is about as much distinction 
between Maya and Avidya as there is between 
a ghost and a fairy; it may be that Maya is 
objective (projected or thrown outwards), while 
Avidya is subjective (injected or thrown in- 
wards), but the substance of matter and motion, 
of mind and nerve, has evolved out of such stuff 
as magic show is made of. | 

Maya has been variously named by different 
philosophers as Sakti (power) and Prakriti 
(nature). Whenever we study the doctrine of 
Maya, we must always remember the words of 
Sri Sankara Acharya: "Belonging to the Self, 
as it were, of the Omniscient Lord, there are 
Nama-rupa, the Maya of name and form, of 
substance and attributes, of cause and effect, 
of universe and the man/' 

The doctrine of Maya must be read along 
with the doctrine of Avidya, the former being 
the complement to the latter. According to 
the doctrine of Maya the reality of the Jiva 
(individual), Jagat (universe), and Samsara are 
denied, as according to the doctrine of Avidya 
the reality of perception and conception is 
denied; for nothing else is truly real except 
the one Brahman. It is the mind which super- 
imposes the outer world upon Brahma, who only 
is real. This innate tendency of the mind, to 
place the illusion of the inner and outer world 
and the transmigration of the Jiva in relation 
to the personality of a creative Spirit, is called 
Maya. What remains (after name and form, 



166 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

which are productions of Maya and Avidya, 
are deducted or annihilated) is pure conscious- 
ness. This is Brahma, unto which all creatures 
are progressing to be absorbed and compre- 
hended in the embrace of Jnana. Thus a dis- 
tinction is to be drawn between the universe of 
Jnana (reality) and the universe of Ajnana 
(non-reality) — the former being Brahma and 
the latter Maya. All our anthropomorphic 
conceptions are Avidya-born. 

It is the Self behind phenomena that seeks 
to express Itself to our self, the former One with 
the latter. 

By a law of thought the self is the ground 
of all our assumptions. We cannot understand 
each other's language unless we tacitly attribute 
a self to the speaker. This process of self- 
endowment is not limited to human beings. 

Whether it is clearly present to our thought 
or not, we attribute some kind of self, not only 
to the lower animals, but to each unit of the 
inanimate creation. When we speak of earth 
or water or matter, we do assume some kind of 
substance containing the germ of self in it. The 
only illusion from which human thought vainly 
strives to escape is the disconcerting assumption 
of many isolated selves. Metaphysical logic fails 
to see any truth in this assumption of a plurality 
of selves, each complete in itself without being 
touched by its neighbours. For how can one 
self be separated, either subjectively or object- 
ively, from another self which is assumed to 



i 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 167 

be of homogeneous nature ? Can I separate in 
thought my self from yours? It is our char- 
acters that differ, not the soul. As one sun 
produces the seven colours of the rainbow, 
so one self produces the many so-called 
selves. 

It is Brahman who is in the Turiya, in the 
Susupti, in the dreaming and in the waking state. 
It is Brahman who is Isvara, the Creator. It 
is Brahman who is the Hiranyagarbha, i.e. the 
unmanifested universe in its causal form, exist- 
ing as a design in the mind of Isvara. It is 
Brahman who is Virat, i.e. the manifested 
universe of the solar and stellar systems, the 
world of life, movement, and Karma.' Thus 
the Rishi says : "Perfect and whole is that 
Brahman, and perfect and whole also is this 
Brahman." 

To regard the person as separate from the 
Impersonal is an instance of what is called the 
"heresy of separateness." When the mind of 
man is freed from Avidya, he sees nothing but 
the presence of Brahman. 

Walt Whitman speaks of the one-ness of soul 
and matter. It appears so contrary to all our 
experience — how can the Invisible Self be re- 
garded as the reverse side of visible nature? 
Yet those who know how to see have seen and 
realised this one-ness with God (Paravidya). 
Tennyson describes his experience of this higher 
knowledge, when he felt that his soul melted 
away into heaven like a cloud in the sky. To 



168 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

him this did not appear as loss of self, but "gain 
of such large life as matched with ours were sun 
to spark." 

Sri Krishna calls them children who see 
nothing but contradiction between the unitary 
revelations of Yoga and the positivistic teach- 
ings of science on the manifoldness of nature. 
He sees rightly who sees that the truth of the 
one is not different from the truth of the 
other. 

This is Mukti, this is liberation from Maya, 
from iVvidya and from Upadhi. True religion 
teaches man the art of self-expression. In self- 
expression lies happiness; man's destiny is to 
become God. 

When the poet is able to express the harmony 
of the self in the rhythm of words, he is happy ; 
when the lover is able to express the fire of the 
soul in the light of the eyes, he is happy ; when 
a community expresses the ideal of the good 
in art, in government, and in manners, it has 
achieved its object; mankind will realise its 
mission on earth when all see Godhead in each, 
and each one sees Godhead in all. 

Self-preservation is the law of life. This is 
not to be confounded with the preservation of 
name and form, or of individuality, not even of 
nationality, no, nor even of humanity. Self- 
preservation implies the preservation of right- 
eousness, of the longing for freedom, of the 
aspiration for holiness. All evil, all sin, all 
pain arises from the desire for the preservation 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 169 

of the ego — the ego of passion, of power, of 
lust, the ego which whispers, "Each for him- 
self." That is a kind of self-preservation 
which is nothing more than self-extinction. 

The sense of an isolated ego within the body 
of man, or in the body of a nation, which is a 
collection of individuals, having its separate life 
and separate interests, is an error. This error 
is the parent of all strife between individual 
and individual, between nation and nation. 
Patriotism — the fetish of some minds — is but 
another form of individualism which has its 
origin in selfishness. This monster of race- 
patriotism battens on the blood of other races 
just as one set of bacilli feeds on another set. 
Patriotism is the cause of immense good to the 
members of the same race, but is also the cause 
of countless evils to the members of other races. 
All the horrors of war that we read of in history, 
and of which we read in the papers to-day, have 
been caused by race-consciousness. Ambitious 
rulers, diplomatists, and capitalists call out for 
a so-called peace which is no peace at all, a 
peace born of idleness, of greed, of the muck of 
decaying creeds, customs and ideals, of unbelief, 
dishonesty and shame, and of false sympathy 
of race for race. This so-called civilisation is a 
compact between the strong, unscrupulous races 
for trampling under foot the weaker races. 
What is there to divide one race from another ? 
We are all men, not mere geographical dolls. 

Sister Nivedita records that while Swami 



170 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

Vivekananda was on his way to the shrine of 
Amarnath in Kashmir many Sannyasins used 
to call on him, and when he drew their attention 
to the condition of the world around them, they 
said that even foreigners were men — why make 
such a distinction between Svadesa (one's own 
country) and Videsa (foreign country) ? 

These Sannyasins on the banks of the Ganges 
and the Indus have developed cosmic conscious- 
ness to so great an extent that they no longer 
live the petty life of race and clan, but that of 
the universal. 

When talking of the repeated invasions of 
India by Asiatic and European races, the 
Swami Vivekananda, who had an intense love 
for India, said that all his patriotism was gone 
— that it was now only "Mother, Mother!" 
He told how "Mother" once appeared to him 
and said, "Even if unbelievers enter My temples 
and defile My images, what is that to you? 
Do you protect Me? Or do I protect you?" 
So there was no more patriotism for him. 

I shall be sorry if you misunderstand me as 
condemning either love of peace, or neighbourly 
love, or love for one's country. All these feel- 
ings are praiseworthy and help to evolve the 
spiritual life of man ; at the same time we must 
not forget that love means harmony, not con- 
flict, expansion of sympathy, not its contraction 
within geographical limits. The very fact of 
loving one soul, by including all souls and God, 
implies salvation. Universal love inspired by 



vi MONISM: THE TRUTH OF LIFE 171 

the vision of the Universal may not bring us 
worldly success or national prosperity, but it will 
give us something more precious than all the suc- 
cess and all the treasures of the world combined. 
I see a new light on the distant horizon, 
across the surging waters. From beyond the 
blue, the song of the gods is enchanting my soul. 
I see a new humanity, God-vestured, dazzling 
the sight like a fiery cloud of gold. There I 
see, above the cloud, shining with the glory of 
a thousand suns, a sublime figure more godlike 
than man's conception of God. In the gloom 
of the last watch of the night I see the shattered 
remains of ruined towers and temples, and the 
dead bodies of men and women and animals ; 
I hear the last groans and faint cries of a dying 
world. All that is changed. Universal silence, 
like that which prevailed before the creation of 
our sun, when Isvara was lost in the meditation 
of Brahman. Behold ! out of the thought of 
Isvara comes forth a universe of Right peopled 
by beings who shall be called Truth-born ! 

OM. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Kaushitaki Upanishad, with Sankarananda's Dipika. 
Nadbindu Upanishad, with Narayan's Vritti. 
Atmaproboda Upanishad. 

Nrisimhatapani Upanishad, with Sankara's Bhasya. 
Shatchakra Upanishad, with Narayan's Dipika. 
Shatchakra Nirupanam, with Visvanath's Vivriti. 



172 BRAHMADARSANAM vi 

Padukapanchakam of Sankara. 

Siddhanta Darasana, with Niranjan Bhasya. 

Bhagavatgita. 

Devi Bhagavata. 

Yogavasistha Maharamaijan. 

Sarirakbhasya of Sri Sankara Acharya. 



APPENDIX 

NOTES 

P. 2, 1. 29. Invasion of India 

India has suffered foreign invasion within historical 
times since the year 2034 B.C., when Semiramis of 
Nineveh invaded the north-west of India. Rameses 
II. of Egypt invaded her 981 B.C. Darius of Persia 
invaded her 600 B.C. Alexander of Macedon in- 
vaded her 327 B.C. Kasim of Arabia invaded her 
711 a.d. The Sultan of Ghazni invaded her 986 a.d. 
Muhammed invaded the Punjab 1021 a.d. Babar 
the Mongol invaded her 1526 a.d. After this the 
Afghans invaded her several times. Every school- 
boy and schoolgirl is familiar with the story of 
the invasions of India by the nations of Europe 
since the discovery of the Cape route by the 
Portuguese. 

P. 4, 1. 28 

The Charvvak school was founded by Vrihaspati. 
The Charvvaks are thorough-going materialists, and 
bear great resemblance to La Mettre and others of 
the French Illumination period. 

Vrihaspati must have lived long before the 

173 



174 BRAHMADARSANAM 

Buddha, and he probably influenced the no-soul 
theory of the Buddhists. The Charvvaks taught 
that mind is a product of matter, that there is no 
soul, no God, and no future life. "Live merrily as 
long as you are alive; borrow butter if you have 
none" — such was the hedonic tone of their teach- 
ings. This school has long ceased to exist as a 
systematic philosophy in India; it has changed its 
habitation, and has come to dwell in Europe. 
These different philosophic systems are classified 
by Sri Madhava Acharya in his Sarvadarsana 
Samgraha as follows : 

1. Charvvaka Darsana. 

2. Bauddhya 

3. Aharat 

4. Ramanuja " 

5. Purnaprajna 

6. Nakulish Pasupat Darsana. 

7. Saiva 

8. Pratabhijna 

9. Rasesvara 

10. Aulukya 

11. Akshapada 

12. Jaiminya 

13. Paniniya 

14. Samkhya 

15. Patanjali 

16. Sankara 



P. 9, 1. 22. Buddha's Nirvana 

There is some misunderstanding as to the mean- 
ing of the word Nirvana as intended by the 



99 



>J 



APPENDIX 175 

Buddha. The root meaning of the word is certainly 
different from its philosophical significance. Follow- 
ing the radical meaning — "blowing out" — some 
scholars have made the fatal mistake of thinking 
that its metaphysical significance is "annihilation 
of the soul." From what follows it will be seen 
that Nirvana and Mukti are almost synonymous 
terms and refer to the permanent ideal for the 
attainment of which the human being is perpetually 
striving. 

The Buddhists say Nirvana is supreme happiness. 
Hemchandra says Nirvana is perfect rest, while 
Amara asserts that Nirvana is synonymous with 
the ne plus ultra of perfection, deathlessness, the 
highest good, liberation from limitation, transcen- 
dental independence of spirit, and perpetual peace 
that is the reward of wisdom. That Nirvana does 
not mean "nothing," or "negation of existence," is 
evident from the Buddha's own words. We shall 
quote some of his utterances. 

The Buddha said : 

The mind is freed from the clutch of the enemy 
of Nirvana through right views, right resolution, 
right speech, right conduct, right exercise, right 
recollection, and right absorption, or Samadhi. 
The effect of right absorption, or Samadhi, is a 
discriminative understanding, unitative state of 
the soul, indifference to illusory things of the world, 
and the purification of memory. By the light of 
Samadhi-born sight the soul discovers real truth, 
and distinguishes it from the source of untruth. 
That is to say, man realises the true meaning of 
peace, emancipation, and Nirvana. The transcen- 
dental knowledge derived from Samadhi discloses 



176 BRAHMADARSANAM 

the highest truth of life and dispels all doubt. 
These are the realisations during the first stage of 
Samadhi. 

In the second stage the mind rises from the 
manifold of the cosmos to the unity of being. In 
this stage the plurality of sense-perception does not 
exist for the Yogi. One Supreme Being, identical 
with its meditation, its knowledge, its understand- 
ing, its longing and its love, fills the entire horizon 
of the soul. 

In the third stage of Samadhi the soul is freed 
from the duality of knowledge and ignorance, 
existence and non-existence, passion and dispassion, 
happiness and misery, joy and joylessness, fortune 
and misfortune, eternal and temporal. The soul 
dwells in the middle sphere as the untouchable, the 
indifferent, the unattached, the unacting and 
thrill-less. Then the soul is unhampered, inde- 
pendent, and unabstracted. 

In the fourth stage the soul becomes absolutely 
pure, through the disappearance of the sense of ego 
— the ego which is identical with ignorance, passion, 
and flesh. It feels as though it does not live because 
vanity is gone for ever. It comes to the state of 
righteousness through the death of sin and sorrow. 
Thus through the ending of misery, peace together 
with highest knowledge arises. This is the beginning 
of the state of Nirvana — of perfect ecstasy, of bliss, 
and of immortality. The soul is now for ever free, 
enjoying in its own sphere of glory — free for ever 
from birth and death, disease and ignorance, bondage 
and relative liberation. It attains supreme happi- 
ness, it comes to its own immortality. Compare 
this teaching of the Buddha with the teachings 



APPENDIX 177 

of the Upanishads and the Gita. The Buddha's 
teaching about the ultimate state of the soul is 
based upon the Vedanta. He verified to his satis- 
faction the conclusions of the Upanishads in his 
own life during the six years of meditation under 
the Bodhi tree. 

If it is still asked what really is this Nirvana, we 
answer in the words of the Vedic Rishi : 

"'Wherein, O Holy One, does the soul stand?' 
'Ah, my dearest, the soul stands in her own 
majesty.' " 

P. 10, 1. 12 

The Buddha has been much misunderstood, not 
only by his enemies, but also by his followers. He 
taught that speculations as to the origin and destiny 
of souls and of the universe do not help us to lead 
a noble and virtuous life. We cannot determine by 
abstract reasoning the nature of God's relation to 
man or the nature of the highest aim of life. All 
that is required of man is to be good : he ought to 
love all and live for all. The Buddha taught the 
middle way of avoiding two extremes, viz. self- 
indulgence and self-mortification, and following a 
path which opens the eye to truth, unfolds the 
understanding, confers peace of mind, bestows 
wisdom, and leads to enlightenment. To realise the 
highest aim of life he taught his disciples to follow 
the eightfold path : 

Right views. 

Right aspirations. 

Right speech. 

Right conduct. 



N 



178 BRAHMADARSANAM 

Right living (without hurting any living 

thing). 
Right effort (self-control). 
Right watchfulness. 

Right rapture (through contemplation of 
the vanities of life). 
As the Buddha did not accept the authority of 
the Vedas, as he had no faith in a personal God, and 
as he did not believe in the soul as an everlasting 
entity, he is regarded by the Hindus as a heterodox 
teacher. 

P. 12, 1. 16. Date of the Vedas 

Nothing is more difficult than to discover the 
actual dates of the Vedas and Upanishads, as well 
as those of later Sanscrit teachers and poets. Hindu 
Sanscrit scholars have not been able to accept the 
dates given by European savants ; as a general rule 
the latter have a tendency to choose the latest 
possible dates. Personally, I believe that Buddha 
lived at a much earlier date than 680 B.C., and in 
this I am supported by the Tibetan and Chinese 
records. As for the date of the Vedas and Upani- 
shads, the Hindus believe that they exist perpetu- 
ally, that is to say, that they are as imperishable as 
the human soul. Not only the spirit but also its 
medium has a self -revealing nature by virtue of 
which they present themselves before the inner eye 
of the Yogi in Samadhi. Max Miiller divides the 
Vedic literature into four periods — the Chhandas, 
Mantra, Brahamana, and Sutra ; and as each period 
is prior, if not to the origin, at least to the spreading 
and political ascendency of Buddhism in the fourth 



APPENDIX 179 

century before Christ, he, by assigning two hundred 
years to each period, arrives at about 1200 B.C. as 
the latest date at which we may suppose the Vedic 
hymns to have been composed. 

Dr. Haug fixes the very commencement of the 
Vedic literature between 2400 and 2000 B.C. by 
assigning about five hundred years to each 
period. 

Nothing positive is known as to the time when 
the Vedas and Upanishads were reduced to writing ; 
curiously enough all European scholars acknowledge 
this, but of course they must cook some dates to 
satisfy their scientific consciences. 



P. 15, 1. 12. Study of Vedanta 

To be able to practise Vedanta successfully, and 
realise the content of our deeper self, it is absolutely 
necessary to acquire those powers and develop those 
faculties which contribute towards the perfection 
of human nature. The Hindu teachers instruct 
their pupils to acquire Dharma, i.e. that substance 
or essence, the possession of which makes man 
perfect as God, and without which man does not 
even deserve to be called man. The nature of 
Dharma can be understood from what follows : 

1. The disciple must try to develop his (or her) 

powers of remembrance, so that he (or she) 
may not forget all the lessons he (or she) has 
learnt. 

2. He (or she) must practise forgiveness; even 

the thought of revenge must be completely 
annihilated. 



180 BRAHMADARSANAM 

3. He (or she) must not let the mind be disturbed 

by sorrow or misfortune. 

4. He (or she) must never, even in thought, 

desire to appropriate unlawfully another's 
property. 

5. He (or she) must keep the body clean and the 

heart pure. 

6. He (or she) must control the senses in such a 

way that the activity of the senses, viz. of 
sight, hearing, smell, speech, touch, hands, 
feet, excretory and generative organs, and 
lastly, the faculty of attention, be ever 
directed rigorously to the side of morality, 
decency, and health. 

7. He (or she) must devote heart and soul to the 

investigation of soul-truths and nature- 
truths. The development of the powers of 
intellect, understanding, and intuition is 
the one thing needful. For this purpose 
the disciple must have recourse to all those 
methods, physical, mental, and yogic, which 
are calculated to unfold his (or her) latent 
powers. 

8. He (or she) must be truthful in thought, speech, 

and deed. He (or she) must be sincere, 
helpful, and full of love for men and animals. 

9. He (or she) must develop faith in and reverence 

for God. Longing or activity for the ac- 
quisition of temporal things is to be sup- 
pressed. Indulgence in passion, anger, envy, 
greed, and stupidity should be strictly 
avoided. 
These are the Ten Limbs of Dharma. Their 
Sanscrit names are : 



APPENDIX 181 

1. Dhriti. 6. Indriya-Nigraha. 

2. Ksma. 7. Dhi. 

3. Dama. 8. Vidya. 

4. Asteya. 9. Satya. 

5. Sancha. 10. Akrodha. 
See Manu Sdmhita, vi. 91-94. 



P. 22, 1. 7 

Kapila's name occurs in all the six Darsanas, in 
the Mahabharata, in the Bhagavata, in the Puranas, 
and in Kalidasa's and Magh's poetical works. The 
earliest reference to Kapila in the Vedas occurs in 
the following verse : 

"He who one alone superintends every source 
of production — who endowed his son, the Rishi 
Kapila, at the commencement of the creation, 
with virtue, knowledge, renunciation of worldly 
desires, and superhuman powers, and who looked 
at him when he was born" (Svetdsvatara Upanishad, 
ch. v. 2). 

Kapila must have lived before the Buddha, as the 
latter appears to have borrowed many of his ideas 
from him. 

The following verse probably forms the founda- 
tion of Kapila's Darsana : 

"The one unborn (soul) for his enjoyment ap- 
proaches the one unborn (nature) which is red, 
white, and black, of one form and producing a 
manifold offspring; the other who is unborn 
abandons her (nature) whose enjoyment he has 
enjoyed" {Svetdsvatara Upanishad of the Black 
Yagur, Veda iv. 5). 



182 BRAHMADARSANAM 

P. 23, 1. 5 

The actual book which Kapila wrote, or the 
literary or oral form in which he communicated his 
philosophy to Asuri, his disciple, is lost. But his 
teaching has been embodied in the Tattva Samasa, 
in the Samkhya Sutras, in the Karika, in the 
Samkhya-Pravachan Bhashya, and other works. 
All these books were probably compiled between a 
few centuries before and after the birth of Christ. 
The best known commentaries on the Samkhya 
Sutras are those of Aniruddha and Vijnana-Bhikshu. 
Isvara Krishna's Karika is also a good handbook 
on the subject. 

P. 23, 1. 9. Kapila's Date 

Three copper plates of great antiquity have 
recently been unearthed in the district of Simoga, 
Mysore. One of these plates bears the following 
inscription : 

"A gift of land given by King Janamenjaya, son 
of King Parikshit, dated 89 of the era of King 
Yudhisthir." 

89 of the Yudhisthir era corresponds to 2359 B.C. 

Sri Krishna, in his Gita, mentions Kapila: "I 
am sage Kapila among the saints" (x. 26). Thus 
showing that Kapila was well known as a philosopher 
during Sri Krishna's lifetime. Hence Kapila must 
have lived prior to Sri Krishna. 

The Mahabharata tells us that Sri Krishna was 
King Yudhisthir's contemporary. Now, according 
to Kalhan, the historian of Kashmir, Yudhisthir's 



APPENDIX 183 

reign begins 653 years after the commencement of 
the Kaliyuga (Rajtarangini, i. 56). 

At the present moment 5017 years of the Kaliyuga 
have passed away, according to the Hindu Calendar. 
Hence deducting 653 from 5017 we get 4364 years; 
and deducting 1916, the present year, from 4364, 
we get 2448 B.C. Thus Yudhisthir's reign began in 
2448 b.c. 

The Vishnu Purana as well as the Bhagavata 
Purana record that Sri Krishna left this earth for 
heaven at the end of the first period of the Kaliyuga 
(see V. P. 4/24/35, 5/38/8, and 4/24/40, and B. P. 
12/2/29 and 1/15/36, with Sridhar's tika). 

Then again it is also recorded that the constella- 
tion Ursa Major (Saptarshi) was in the Nakshatra 
(asterism) Magha during King Parikshit's reign. 
From this hint it has been shown, according to 
astronomical calculation, that King Parikshit reigned 
about 2084 b.c. It is certain that Yudhisthir was 
Parikshit's predecessor. 

Sri Krishna therefore lived at least 2448 B.C., 
and Kapila's date must be reckoned a few centuries 
prior to Sri Krishna's. I do not see any difficulty, 
considering the weight of evidence, in placing Kapila 
prior to 3000 b.c. 

P. 41, 1. 2. Karmaloka 

The term Karmaloka signifies the plane of action. 
The doctrine of Karma, or moral retribution, is 
common to the Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain religions. 
In one sense Karma stands for the Cosmic Law which 
determines physical and spiritual evolution; in 
another sense it is an abstract term which connotes 



184 BRAHMADARSANAM 

such ideas as "moral ideal," "fate," "transmigra- 
tion," "unseen force," "destiny." The Jiva is sup- 
posed to possess an ethereal body called the Karma 
body, and the plane on which this body plays its part 
in this life, as well as in the life after death, is called 
Karmaloka. The wheel of Karma revolves perpetu- 
ally, and its rotation can only be stopped, according 
to Sri Krishna, by disinterested action; according 
to Ramanuja, by God's grace secured through loving 
adoration ; and lastly, according to Sankara, by the 
knowledge of the unity of the soul with God. 

P. 48, 1. 4. On the Inconsistencies of Science 

Science is no less full of inconsistencies than 
theology. Let us examine some of the most fashion- 
able scientific theories of our age. 

What is the faith of the Atomists? An atom is 
so very small that it cannot be smaller. Is it con- 
sistent with any rational principle that a particle 
or part of a thing can be only of such and such a 
size, and cannot be less than such a size? Is not 
this a contradiction? 

Consider our belief in ether — a hypothetical sub- 
stance invented to account for the action of bodies 
upon each other at a distance. It is the most dense 
as well as the most attenuated thing in our solar 
system. Can we think of a thing possessing such 
diametrically opposite qualities? And yet the 
reality of ether is something the scientific mind is 
forced to assume. 

Take our ideas about motion. All lifeless things, 
unless moved by an external force, are at rest. 
Physical science says that molecules, atoms, and 



APPENDIX 185 

electrons are self-energising, self-propelled, and are 
moving for ever and ever. Thus self-movement, 
which in the case of atoms is supposed to be the 
rule, is denied to things into the composition of 
which the atoms enter. Is this consistent ? Gravity 
and friction are the causes of things remaining on 
the earth, and yet electrons are characterised by the 
absence of both. Again, the larger universes, such 
as the solar and sidereal systems, are supposed to 
be governed by the same laws as the smaller 
universes, such as atoms, electrons, etc. ; perpetual 
movement, absolute want of friction, unsteadiness, 
destructions, and dissolutions; our ideas about 
spatial position and resistance do not hold good; 
our geometrical and arithmetical conceptions do 
not help us to measure the vastly great and the 
vastly little of solar physics and chemistry. Looked 
at from our earth the sun is immobile, but in com- 
parison with other suns it is moving. The earth has 
weight, as have all things on its surface, but the 
entire universe has no weight, neither at the terres- 
trial centre can any body possess any weight. A 
circle, we all know, is a straight line, yet at any given 
point it is not so ; the globe is a plane, yet any given 
section is not so. Walking over the globe, do we 
ever come below the globe? Science is one huge 
Maya! 

P. 88, 1. 3 Pre-Existence 

There are many people who readily believe in 
future life, but are very doubtful as to the truth of 
past life, or the pre-existence of the soul. They 
forget that all the logic that holds good for future 
life holds equally good for past life. No sense can 



186 BRAHMADARSANAM 

be made out of the word "immortality" unless it is 
taken to mean that it is co-extensive or parallel with 
infinite time — if we are to measure the soul's dura- 
tion by time. But if we consider the soul as spiritual, 
and time as material, the former independent of the 
latter, then the immortality of the soul would have 
to be indicated by the word "eternal." In meta- 
physics we have to reject all argument drawn from 
what is called in the Vedanta the upddhi nature of 
the soul, which means the anthropomorphic super- 
imposition of the phenomenal attributes of cause, 
time, and space upon Pure Spirit. Yet most people, 
when they think of death and the hereafter, want 
to be satisfied as to the survival of the phenomenal 
identity of the self; and it is exactly these people 
who are not equally curious to find out whether 
their expectation of the phenomenal survival of self 
has anything to do with the phenomenal pre- 
existence of the self, prior to their physical birth. 
Perhaps they satisfy themselves with the thought 
that God creates anew the soul of the child as soon 
as it sees the light of day. But they do not seem 
to think that there is nothing to prevent God from 
destroying the soul as soon as the body dies. 
Perhaps they believe that it is inconsistent with 
God's mercy to destroy. Philosophy, of course, 
must remain silent when people make their wish 
the father of their thought. 

Without assuming the pre-existence of the soul 
it is impossible on any other hypothesis, such as 
heredity, to explain such facts as memory, different 
levels of intellectuality, spirituality, and morality 
in different human beings. The doctrine of heredity 
tacitly assumes the origin of mind or soul from body 



APPENDIX 187 

or matter, and thereby makes the soul share the fate 
of body or matter. Thus such doctrines lead to 
belief in race-immortality, but not to belief in the 
individual survival of spirit. Many of the joys and 
sorrows, the friendships and enmities of our lives, 
which appear to be uncaused by, or unconnected 
with, events in this life, are explained by the assump- 
tion of a prior life, or lives, in which death took 
place before merit or virtue was conjoined with 
reward or happiness, and demerit or vice was con- 
joined with punishment or misery. Thus the work- 
ing of an inexorable moral law, which no one seems 
to call in question, can only be fulfilled provided the 
soul's continuous existence remains unaffected by 
foreign influences. 

This theory of an unchangeable moral law and 
a continuous soul life cannot be shown to be in- 
consistent with the moral will of a just God. The 
grace of God is not like the capricious will of a king 
towards his favourite, but is showered in abundance 
as soon as the sinning soul abandons its old ways 
and takes to the glorious road of virtue and wisdom. 
And thus it is not at all difficult to reconcile God's 
grace, moral law, continuous life, and self-exertion 
— the whole result being, as Sri Krishna says, "By 
many a new birth made pure, she treads at last the 
Highest Path." 

P. 90, 1. 24. Agnosticism 

In India the word Nastika means those who do 
not believe in the universality and efficacy of the 
law of Karma, in the Veda as the revealed word of 
God, in the existence and survival of the soul, in 
the existence of a personal God, in the fruition of 



188 BRAHMADARSANAM 

religious work, in the hereafter, and lastly, in the 
existence of any reality beyond the perceptible 
world. The followers of Vrihaspati, Charvvak, and 
the Buddha are nicknamed Nastikas. 

P. 100, 1. 3 

Historically it is quite an established fact that 
the religion of love preached by Krishna or Christa 
is prior to the religion of love preached by Christ. 
How far Krishna or Christa is the same person as 
Kristos or Christ we do not know. Here we shall 
mention one or two facts to show that Krishna-ity, 
or Christ-aity, was known to the world — especially 
to the Greeks — at least a few centuries prior to the 
birth of Jesus of Nazareth; it was known to the 
Greeks, as well as to the Indians, as the religion of 
the worship of Vasudeva, which was one of the 
names of Krishna. In ancient Indian literature it 
is also known as the Ekanta, or the Unitarian 
Church. 

(i.) The first inscription which refers to Krishna 
or Vasudeva was found at Ghosundi in Rajputana. 
It refers to the construction of a hall of worship 
dedicated to Samkarsana and Vasudeva — both 
names refer to Krishna. The date, judging from 
the characters in the inscription, must be at least 
two hundred years before the birth of Christ. 

(ii.) A second inscription found at Besnagar says : 
"Heliodora, the Grecian ambassador from Amtali- 
kita (Antialkidas), erects this column with the image 
of Garuda at the top in honour of Vasudeva — the 
God of Gods." This inscription was engraved in 
the early part of the second century B.C. The 



APPENDIX 189 

religion of Krishna or Kristos was adopted by the 
Greeks before the second century B.C. 

(iii.) The Niddesa gives a list of different religious 
sects which prevailed in India before the fourth 
century B.C., and in this list occurs the name of 
Vasudeva or Krishna. The Niddesa is a Pali 
Canonical Book. From this we gather that Krishna- 
ity prevailed at least 400 years before the birth of 
Christ. 

(iv.) Panini's commentator, Patanjali, says Vasu- 
deva is the name of the "worshipful," i.e. of one who 
is the supreme object of worship. (See on Panini, 
iv. 3. 98.) Panini lived at least 400 B.C. 

(v.) In the fourth century b.c. Megasthenes, the 
Grecian ambassador, came to the court of the Indian 
Emperor Chandragupta, and in his diary he mentions 
the prevalence in India of the worship of Vasudeva- 
Krishna. He says that Herakles was specially 
worshipped by the Sourasenvi, an Indian nation, 
in whose land are two great cities, Methora and 
Kleisobora, and through it flows the navigable river 
Jobres. Of course Herakles is Krishna, Methora is 
Mathura, Jobres is the river Jamuna, and the 
Sourasenvi are the Surasenas, a race of Kshatriyas. 

(For further evidence in support of this point see 
Bhandarkar.) 

P. 100, L 23 

There are two ways of understanding the meta- 
physical attributes of God. First, by starting with 
the human intelligence as limited, and therefore 
largely illusory, and assuming that the human in- 
telligence, by leading an ethical and religious life, by 



190 BRAHMADARSANAM 

the practice of Yoga and Samadhi, can unfold its 
hidden virtues and thereby gradually come to a 
larger comprehension of the metaphysical nature of 
the Divine attributes. As man becomes wise, good, 
and free, in the deeper sense, he realises that good- 
ness, wisdom, and freedom are real virtues and 
attributes existing in actuality and fulness in the 
Divine personality of God. His spiritual illumina- 
tion, or re-birth, is in his view a gift of the Lord 
owing to His possessing these attributes in abun- 
dance ; so that salvation, according to this view, does 
not imply the loss of the illusion of individuality, 
but the gaining of a larger individuality, a spiritual 
re-birth through God's grace, through the possession 
of such virtues, not in their full perfection, but only 
in a degree removed from that of God. 

There is another way of looking at the question. 

Man's individuality has a dual aspect. In 
essence his soul is of the same substance as God — 
in fact, the soul is no other than God Himself, but 
this soul is associated with a sheath of nescience or 
illusion. By virtue of the Divine essence, man's 
soul is continually struggling to come to a realisation 
of his Divine destiny by throwing off this accidental 
sheath of illusion. During this struggle for Divine 
existence man passes through three stages of in- 
tellectual life. In the first stage he has a dim vision 
of his spiritual nature which is largely obscured by 
the materialistic forces of his body. In this stage 
there is a continuous conflict for mastery between 
higher and lower sentiments, between his self- 
regarding and his altruistic views. In the second 
stage his intellect discovers permanent forms, 
abiding laws, governing the flux of phenomena. 



APPENDIX 191 

He feels that there are types of ideals which lead 
the inner life to saner thinking, and to a moral way 
of acting. Along with this his intellect perceives 
the working of a deeper law in the outer cosmos; 
he learns to view God as one making the outer cos- 
mos more in rhythm with the pulsations of the inner 
moral ideal. The last stage of his development is 
one of indescribable peace, love, and happiness. In 
this stage he intuitively sees that God, Man, and 
Nature are like three tones emanating from the 
vibration of one chord — all three distinct from each 
other, yet without difference. The individuality of 
man becomes much more individual by losing its 
transient character through the inflow of Divine 
grace. Hence salvation, according to this view, is 
the realisation of the universal which at first was 
present only in a potential state. In the spiritual 
sense it is not possible to draw a line between God 
and Man when the latter reaches the level of the 
former. 

Cf. Caird's Spinoza, chap. xi. (Blackwood's 
Philosophical Classics). 

P. 117, 1. 16 

Students of Greek philosophy may be reminded 
of Aristotle's distinction between active and passive 
intelligence. 

By "active intelligence" is meant something 
separable from matter, impassive, unmixed, being 
in its essential nature an activity. It has no inter- 
mission in its thinking, it is only in separation from 
matter that it is itself, and it is immortal and ever- 
lasting, while "passive intelligence" is perishable, 



192 BRAHMADARSANAM 

and does not think at all apart from this. Of active 
intelligence Aristotle's great commentator, Alexander 
of Aphrodisias, said that it is numerically the same 
in all thinking creatures, and that it is identical with 
God. Again, Ibn Roschd explained Aristotle's 
"active intelligence" by saying that there is only 
one and the same intelligence in the universe, and 
all that we claim as our thought is not really man's 
but God's. A third meaning has been put upon 
Aristotle's "active intelligence." According to this 
interpretation active intelligence is neither God's 
nor common to all thinking beings, but is the best 
and the most transcendental part of the mortal soul 
which has no physical appendage to it. 

P. 164, 1. 15 

I have illustrated the doctrine of Maya from well- 
known facts of hypnotism, psychology of illusion, 
magic, and yoga creation. All these examples tend 
to show that we cannot draw any hard-and-fast line 
between mind and matter; the subject of psycho- 
nervous relation is extremely complicated, and as 
yet the theory of parallelism has not satisfactorily 
explained all the facts. 

The doctrine of Maya neither refutes nor estab- 
lishes any cosmic theory, it only sums up in one 
word the mysterious, unintelligible nature of the 
world of mind and matter ; it neither says that the 
world has an ideal or a material origin — what it does 
affirm is that the origin, substance, and law of life, 
mind and energy are beyond our comprehension. 



GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The following works are recommended to those who 
wish to become thoroughly acquainted with the different 
aspects of Vedanta : 

Sri Ramanuja's Commentary on the Brahma Sutras, 
translated by G. Thibaut (Sacred Books of the 
East series). 

The Upanishads, translated by Max Miiller, and other 
books of the S.B.E. series, edited by Max Miiller. 

Max Muller. Sri Ramakrishna : His Life and Sayings. 
Longmans, London. 
The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy. 
Three Lectures on the Vedanta Philosophy. 
India : What can it teach us ? 

Deussen, P. The System of the Vedanta (Sri Sankara's 
Philosophy). Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago 
(translated from the German). 

Arnold, Sir Edwin. The Song Celestial. Triibner and 
Co., London. 

Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Translated by M. M. Dutt. 
Translated by Swami Paramananda. Vedanta 

Centre, Boston, 1913. 
Translated by Barnett. Barnett, Dent and Co., 

London. 

Narada Sutra. An Inquiry into Love. Translated from 
the Sanscrit by E. T. Sturdy. John M. Watkins. 
London (2nd edition). 
o 193 



194 BRAHMADARSANAM 

The Life of the Swami Vivekananda. By his Eastern 
and Western disciples. 3 vols. Himalayan series. 

Swami Vivekananda. Complete works. Mayavati 
Memorial Edition. Himalayan series. 

Inspired Talks. Recorded by an American disciple. 
Ramakrishna Mission, Madras. 

Jnana Yoga. 2 vols. Vedanta Society, New York. 

Raja Yoga. Vedanta Society, New York. 

Karma Yoga. Vedanta Society, New York. 

Bhakti Yoga. Vedanta Society, New York. 

My Master (Sri Ramakrishna). 

Swami Paramananda. The Path of Devotion. Vedanta 
Society, New York. 
Vedanta in Practice. 
The Way of Peace and Blessedness. 

Swami Ramakrishnananda. The Universe and the 
Man. 
The Soul of Man. 
The Path to Perfection. 
Sri Krishna, the King-Maker. 

Swami Abhedananda. How to be a Yogi. 

Sister Nivedita (Miss Noble). The Master as I saw 
Him. Longmans, London and New York. 
The Web of Indian Life. Heinemann, London. 
Studies from an Eastern Home. Heinemann, London. 
Kali the Mother. Swan Sonnenschein, London. 
Footfalls of Indian History. Longmans, London. 
Religion and Dharma. 

Ananda Coomaraswamy. Myths of the Hindus and 
Buddhists. George Harrap, London. 

The Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, edited by Swami 
Abhedananda. Vedanta Society, New York. 

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, according to "M." 
Shortened by Swami Abhedananda. Vedanta Society, 

New York. 
English edition. Madras. 



GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 195 

James, Professor William. The Varieties of Religious 
Experience. 

Carpenter, Edward. A visit to a Gnani. George 
Allen, London. And later works by the same 
author. 

Desai, S. A. The Vedanta of Sankara. A Study of the 
Indian Philosophy. Luzac and Co., London. 

Oldenberg, H. Buddha, translated by W. Hoey. 
Williams and Norgate. 

Discourses of Gautama the Buddha. Translated by 
Silacara. Probsthain and Co. 

Suzuki, D. T. A Brief History of Early Chinese Philo- 
sophy. 

Giles, L. Chinese Philosophy. 

The Samhita. Translated by Sri Ananda Acharya. 
Francis Griffiths, London. 

Brajendra Nath Sil. Positive Sciences of the Ancient 
Hindus. 

Weber. History of Philosophy. 

McTaggart, J. E. Human Immortality and Pre- 
Existence. Published by Edward Arnold. 

Sri Sankara's Commentary on the Vedanta Sutras. 
Translated by G. Thibaut (S.B.E.S.). 



INDEX OF SANSCRIT TERMS 

Achdrya. Professor; spiritual guide and helper. 

achit. Matter; object as opposed to subject, non conscious. 

adrista. Invisible; the unseen cause which governs and shapes 

man's destiny; the sum-total of Karma, of previous life, 

which produces experience — pleasurable or painful — in 

this life. 
advaita. Non dual ; the monistic philosophy which teaches 

that individual life cannot be other than universal life. 
advaitin. A follower of the School of Sri Sankar, who revived 

the monistic philosophy of the Upanishads. 
agni. Heat element; fire, both as potential and kinetic. 
aham-kdra. Sense of individuality ; ego feeling which is the 

dynamic of conduct. "I-sense" is to be distinguished 

from "I-do" — the latter lies at the bottom of life, which 

is aham-kdra. 
ajndna. Senselessness. Its philosophical meaning refers to 

man's ignorance about God, who is inseparable from his 

essential being. 
dhdra. The formal aspect of sense-experience, without which 

the material aspect is unintelligible. Size, shape, colour, 

etc., are the forms through which objects present them- 
selves to our senses. 
akdsa. The space which contains ether — the source of sound. 
akshara. The imperishable — refers to the immortal nature 

of God. The eternal, abiding Brahman. 
amrita. The goal of all our endeavours and inspirations, viz. 

immortality. The liberated soul attains immortality 

through true knowledge. 
dnanda. Joy; the beatitude which is to be realised through 

prayer and meditation. 
aniruddha. Freedom, which is an attribute of God; hence 

in God perfect freedom is supposed to be embodied. 

197 



198 BRAHMADARSANAM 

antakarana. The inner psychical machinery, the function of 
which is to translate sense-images into motor ideas; 
hence the intermediate link between psychosis and 
neurosis. 

antaryamin. The cognitive power — both intuitive and ratioci- 
native. The soul, as knowing or perceiving, is not 
different from God. Hence antaryamin is God in man's 
soul. 

anudbhuta soldi. The potential energy in a state of equili- 
brium; unmanifested, though waiting for manifestation, 
either as heat, or mechanical motion, or light, or 
attraction. 

ap. The original of liquidity, moisture, viscosity, etc. One of 
the fundamental constituents of the cosmos. 

aparoksha. Not indirect perception. A kind of perception 
in which the observer, the psychical process of observa- 
tion, and the object observed remain undifferentiated 
and undistinguished. Aparoksha is possible only in 
Samadhi, in which state mind ceases to function 
empirically. 

archa. The symbolical representation of God, having for its 
object the excitement of the sentiment of worship and 
veneration. 

arhat. The man who has attained perfection by following 
the ethics taught by the Buddha. 

dsrama. The twice-born castes of India are expected to 
follow four asramas, viz. to acquire learning in the house 
of the teacher during the first twenty-four years of life, 
to lead the life of citizens till the age of forty, to renounce 
the duties of a householder, and devote themselves to 
the discovery of the greater truths of life from the age 
of forty to sixty, and after sixty to give to the younger 
generations the fruits of both their active and their con- 
templative life. Each of these periods or stages is called 
an dsrama, 

dsraya. The container in relation to the contained ; the support 
in relation to that which is supported. 

Asuri. Name of Kapila's immediate disciple. 

dtman. (1) The psychological ego; (2) the metaphysical 
ground or basis of individuality; (3) the synthetic ground 
whereon the Universe rests ; (4) God — personal and im- 
personal; (5) the Absolute, unrelated to the Personal God 



INDEX OF SANSCRIT TERMS 199 

or the individual egos ; (6) the unity of all — man, nature, 
and God. 

dtmdndtmdviveka. The consciousness of difference between 
self and not-self. The introspective method which re- 
veals the distinction between the spheres of the personal 
and the non-personal. 

avairdgya. Attachment to the impermanent things of life 
with the consequent degeneration of spiritual per- 
ception. 

avatdra. The descent of God on to the human plane. An 
avatar a is an "advent" — one who comes through pity 
for man to lead him to immortality. 

avidyd. Psychologically, avidyd is the incapacity of man to 
know the "whence and what and whereunto" of his soul. 
Hence the agnosis to which are to be ascribed the ex- 
periences of his outer life, for all human action proceeds 
on the assumption of man's ignorance about himself — 
in the transcendental sense. 

aviveka. The want of knowledge about the relative values 
of the revelations of the transcendental and empirical 
consciousnesses. This ignorance results in our preferring 
the things of sense to the things of reason, thus causing 
the mind to be victimised by matter. 

avyakta. Physically — the homogeneous, undifferentiated, pri- 
mary substance in which life, matter, and energy remained 
in a state of equilibrium. 

Psychologically — the incomprehensible and unformu- 
lable in terms of science; the original condition of the 
whole cosmos. 

Baladeva. Author of Govinda Bhashya and many other tracts, 
of the School of Chaitajana in Bengal; he lived about 400 
years ago. 

bhahti. Love for and devotion to God. 

bhakti yoga. The science which teaches that God is to be realised 
through faith, love, and devotion. 

Bhdrati Tirtha. A great teacher of the Advaita Vedanta 
School, author of many books; he flourished about 600 
years ago. Some scholars think that he is identical 
with Sayan Acharya. His Panchadasi and Sivanmukti 
Viveka are well known in India. 

Bhuta. Physical and chemical elements. It also means 
animals. 



200 BRAHMADARSANAM 

bodhisattva. The perfect in wisdom and holiness. The 
Bodhisattvas are the emancipated souls who are regarded 
by the Buddhists as perfect beings. 

Brahma. Adjective from Brahman. 

Brahman. The Impersonal God who is identical with the 
finite soul. Brahman stands for the One Absolute 
Reality, Substance, Truth, Consciousness, Bliss, and Life. 

Brdhmana. Born of Brahma — the great Rishi, who is the 
father of the Science of Self-realisation, and hence those 
who follow the teachings of Brahma, i.e. reborn in tran- 
scendental truth. 

Brahmanda. The universe — called after Rishi Brahma. 

Buddha. The founder of the religion called Buddhism, born 
in Kapilabastu; Prince Siddhartha, otherwise called 
Amitava. 

buddhi. The understanding which creates the feeling of con- 
viction of the truth of a conclusion — reached after weigh- 
ing the pros and cons of a subject. Hence buddhi is the 
faculty of determination, and thus its function is always 
the assertion of a position. 

buddhi indriya. The sensory organs connected with the sensory 
nerve centres — producing the knowledge of extra-mental 
realities; also called J nan indriyas. 

Caitanya. The pure consciousness identical with pure Being. 
It is also the name of a great teacher who flourished in 
Bengal. Born a.d. 1485, died 1533. 

chahra. The centres, situated in the nervous system, of 
knowledge, life, activity, etc. 

Chhandogya Upanishad. The name of a philosophical book. 

chit. Intelligence. 

dahara akasa. The inner space of the heart, in which the monistic 
knowledge arises — corresponding to the outer space in 
which the first primary vowel sound originates. 

daiva. Adjective of deva. 

darsana. The philosophical, metaphysical, and scientific books 
of the Hindus are called the Darsanas. 

darsanika. One versed in philosophy. 

Devas. (1) The self-shining beings, (2) the knowledge-pro- 
ducing senses, (3) the objects revealed by the knowledge- 
producing senses. 

dharmiha. (1) A theologian, (2) a believer in Vedic and Smarta 
ritual and ceremony. 



INDEX OF SANSCRIT TERMS 201 

dhydna. Uninterrupted reflection on a subject — abstract or 
concrete. 

dvaita. (1) Dual; (2) the metaphysical systems which recog- 
nise an eternal, unbridgeable distinction between God 
and man, subject and object, matter and spirit. 

dvaitin. A follower of dualistic metaphysics. 

Gdrgi. A famous Brahmavadini mentioned in the Brihada- 
ranyaka Upanishad. 

Gautama Buddha. See Buddha. 

Gita. The sacred sayings of Sri Krishna, known as Srimad 
Bhagavata Gita. 

Gotama. The father of the Nyaya philosophy. 

guna. The seals or powers which are the causes of integration 
and disintegration in nature. 

guru. The teacher who opens the eye of the disciple to per- 
ceive the divinity of his soul, thereby helping him to 
effect his liberation. Hence guru is the saviour of the 
soul. 

Uiranyagarbha. The Absolute viewed in relation to the 
categories of time, cause, and motion ; becoming in relation 
to being; the Cosmos in its primeval state in relation to 
the mind of God. 

indriya. The five senses of knowledge and the five senses of 
action are the ten indriyas. To these is added the mind 
— which directs or guides or controls the indriya. 

jagat. The moving panorama of Nature. 

Jaimini. The founder of the Minansa philosophy. 

Jaina religion. The names Mahavir and Paresnath are 
associated with the origin of Jainism. 

jiva. That which lives and dies, viz. organic life. 

jiva bhava. The characteristics of a jiva, viz. assimilation, 
reproduction, adaptation, response, etc. The psychical 
characteristics are attachment to organic activity and a 
clinging to the preservation of body. 

jnana. The consciousness of the independence of the true 
self of the psychical and material sheaths, shells, en- 
velopes or coverings, together with the knowledge that 
intelligence is one and infinite. Hence Jnana is the 
essence of the soul and of God — the knowledge of which 
is the cause of perfection. 

Jnana yoga. The science which demonstrates that by self- 
knowledge, self-control, and self-reverence man can attain 



202 BRAHMADARSANAM 

the highest end of life. It teaches a system of self -develop- 
ment through the expansion of the understanding, with 
a view to transcend the limitations of Nature and 
mind. 

Jndtri. The knower. The subject comprehending the object 
is the knower of the object. 

jneya. The object presented before the subject. 

Kabir. Poet, devotee, the singer; born a.d. 1398, died 1518. 
His poems have been translated into English by Rabin- 
dranath Tagore. 

Kaivalya. The state of perfection; almost synonymous with 
Mukti. The perfect soul, freed from the limitations of 
material nature, enjoys himself without the fear of being 
reborn. Hence Kaivalya is the transcendental and ideal 
state of bliss. 

Kala. Time. 

Kalpa. A period of four thousand three hundred and twenty 
millions of years of mortals, the measure of the duration 
of the world. 

kalydna gunakara. The mine or receptacle of all auspicious and 
lovely qualities. 

Sri Kantha. The founder of one of the Schools of Vedanta 
philosophy, of the type of qualified spiritual monism; 
he wrote a commentary on the Brahma Sutras. 

karana. Cause. 

karana sarira. The spirit or soul of man unconditioned by 
the material body. The final spiritual substance which 
remains after the mortal part has been removed. 

karma yoga. The philosophy of conduct which teaches that 
action finds its fulfilment when its fruit is dedicated to 
God. 

Karman. The law according to which the agent of action 
enjoys the fruit of action. 

karmendriya. The motor machinery through which the 
active impulse of the ego produces change in the material 
world, viz. the hands, feet, organs of reproduction, and 
organs of secretion. Indriya refers to the psycho-nervous 
motor and sensory centres. 

Kanada. The founder of the Vaishesika philosophy. 

Kapila. The founder of Samkhya philosophy. 

Katha Upanishad. Called also Kaihka Upanishad — one of 
the most important of the Upanishads. 



INDEX OF SANSCRIT TERMS 203 

Sri Krishna. Advent of God. The most prominent figure in 
the Mahabharata. 

Kumdra. Name of a Prajapati. The Mind-born son of 
Brahma. 

Kundalini. The substratum of bodily and mental life, 
situated within the nervous system; it very closely 
resembles radio-activity. 

lild. The emanation of the cosmos out of, and absorption 
into, the mind and will of God; understood, by analogy, 
as Divine play. 

Mddhya Achdrya. Name of the founder of the Dvaita or 
Dualistic School of Philosophy. He was a Kanarese 
Brahman, otherwise called Ananda Tirtha. He lived 
between 1199 and 1278 a.d. 

Mdgha. Name of a poet, the author of Sisupalbad. 

mahabhuta. The constituent elements of the universe. 

mahat. The first great principle. It refers to the subjective 
or psychic substance, through the guidance of which primal 
matter took the form of the Cosmos. 

mdna. The central faculty which directs and controls the sensory 
and motor organs. 

Mandukya Upanishad. Name of a well-known Upanishad. 

mantra. A mantra is a hymn; also the formula of prayer, or 
spell, or incantation. 

mdyd. The cosmic magic which makes a shadow of substance, 
and substance of a shadow. The philosophic view-point 
which shows how the transcendentally unreal and non- 
existent becomes (through the constitution of the 
cognitive faculties of man) the empirically real and 
existent. 

Mimdnsd. The philosophical teachings of Jaimini. 

Mithyd jndna. Refers to the problem of error. 

mlechchha. Non-Aryans, those living outside the boundaries of 
India. 

moksha. The ideal conceived by our understanding as the 
highest, viz. perfection attained through the complete 
eradication of all limitations — spiritual, moral, mental, 
and physical — to which the human soul is subjected. 

Mudrd-Rakshasa. Name of a drama by Visakha Datta. 

mukti. Liberation from the unreal. 

(1) Mulddhdra, (2) Svddhishthdna, (3) Manipura, (4) Andhata, 
(5) Visuddha, (6) Sahasrara. The six chakras, or centres, 



204 BRAHMADARSANAM 

with which the radium-like vital substance, in its circula- 
tion through the nervous system, comes in contact, thereby 
giving rise to psycho-physical action and rest. A chakra 
is a highly complicated nervous machinery for absorbing 
and radiating life-waves to the whole system. 

Ndma-rupa. The presentative-representative universe. We 
understand the world through symbols of sound, colour, 
etc., without which we cannot think. We construct the 
world by associating a word with an idea or image. 

Nirava. The silent one. 

Niravadya. The eternally pure. 

Nirguna Brahman. The Eternal Consciousness viewed as un- 
conditioned. The Impersonal God as It really is — not 
as He or She is conceived by the worshipper or devotee. 

Nirvana. The state of perfection in which the ideal becomes 
the real, and the consciousness is filled through and through 
by the agreement of life and Life. 

Nirvikalpa-Samddhi. The highest form of meditation, in which 
the finite soul feels its identity with the Infinite. 

Nivedita. ("The dedicated one.") Miss Margaret Noble, who 
became the disciple of Swami Vivekananda, and devoted 
her life to the service of India. 

nitya. Eternal. 

Nyaya. Norm. The philosophy founded by Gotama. 

OM. The symbolic representation of the Eternal Mind. 

Pancaratra. A system of philosophical religion which pre- 
vailed in India about the third century B.C. It teaches 
monotheism. The Pancaratra Samhita is the source of 
this system, and Bhakti yoga is based upon it. Ramanuja 
quotes some passages from this work. Modern Vaisnav- 
ism owes its origin to the ancient Pancaratra system. 

paramanu. Atom. 

paravidya. The transcendental philosophy. 

Patanjali. Author of the Yoga Sutras. 

pitri. The manes of the forefathers. 

Pradyumna. See Vyuha. 

Prajdpati. Lord of Creation. In the Vedas the term is ap- 
plied to Soma, Agni, etc., and in later times to Vishnu, 
Siva, etc. 

prajna. Intuitional knowledge. 

prakriti. Nature. 

pram. Life, 



INDEX OF SANSCRIT TERMS 205 

pratisya. Reflection. 

purusha. Soul or spirit. 

Raja. Energy. 

Rama. The hero of Ramayana, advent of God. 

Ramanuja. Born 1016 or 1017; composed Vedantadipa, 
Bhasya on the Brahma Sutras, and on the Bhagavadgita ; 
founder of the Srisampradaya. 

Rasa. The joy which is the life of poetry; the ecstasy due 
to the meditation on God. 

Rig Veda. The Scripture of the Hindus. It is regarded as 
revealed. 

Rishi. Lit. "a seer." The word now means a philosopher, 
saint, social legislator, and religious reformer. 

Rita. Truth, moral law. 

Rupa. The element of form, including attributes in our con- 
ception, and physical qualities in our perception. 

Sabda. The phonetic aspect of word. This term is often 
used to express the psychic and metaphysical significance 
of the words of the Vedas. In this sense Vedic words have 
creative potency inherent in them. 

Sadhana. Perseverance. This word refers to the activity of in- 
telligence and will to realise the highest end of human life. 

Sagara. An ancient king of whom many legends are narrated 
in the Puranas. 

Saiva. A follower of the religion of Siva. Saiva is an adjectival 
form of Siva. 

Sdkshi Svarupa. Intuition-in-itself. The soul, being of the 
nature of a witness, i.e. pure, cognitive faculty, is regarded 
as a substance, identical with its function, or attribute. 

Sakshin. The soul. God, as an Impersonal Being, cannot 
be distinguished from the soul of man. This unitary 
substance in which the Impersonal is inseparable from 
the Personal has only one mark, technically called "the 
witnessing intellect. ,, 

Sakti dtman. The power aspect of the soul; hence it refers 
to the will side of the soul. 

Samadhi. In the philosophy of Yoga, Samadhi stands for 
that state of mind in which the soul is infilled with 
Divine Light, and the Yogi feels himself above time and 
space. 

Sdma Veda. The texts of the Sama Veda, with the exception 
of only 75 stanzas, are taken entirely from the Rig Veda. 



206 BRAHMADARSANAM 

Samkarsana. See Pancardtra. 

Sdmkhya. The system of philosophy founded by Kapila. 

Saiapratijndta Samddhi. See Samddhi. Sampratijndta is one 
kind of Samadhi, in which the Yogi, along with his 
own individuality, is aware of the Divine as a distinct 
Personality. 

Samsdra. Refers to everything that happens in this world. 
Its special meaning is rebirth, i.e. pre-existence and 
post-existence of the soul, the soul's elevation to a higher 
or degradation to a lower state of embodied existence 
being the result of the individual's own conduct. The 
Hindu uses the word Samsdra to express the same 
mental mood as the Englishman when he says "Such is 
life" or "It is the way of the world," only the Hindu uses 
Samsdra in a more comprehensive sense, which includes 
the idea of "Providence." 

Samskara. Memory impressions. In Hindu thought, 
memory is not passive, but each memory impression is 
creative and formative. Thus memory is deeper than 
intelligence or will. 

Samvit. The Impersonal Consciousness standing at the back 
of our empirical consciousness. Perhaps the nearest ex- 
pression is the "subliminal consciousness" of Myers, or 
the "intuition" of Bergson. It also refers to the contempla- 
tive attitude of mind arising out of philosophical indifference 
to the things of sense. 

Sankara. The greatest name in the history of Vedanta 
philosophy. Sankara wrote commentaries on the 
Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras, and founded the 
Advaita method of interpretation. The exact date of 
his birth is not known, but he is supposed to have been 
born about 787 or 789 a.d. in the village of Kalapi, in 
the district of Kerala in South India, and to have died 
in Kanchi. One writer says: "What shall we say then 
of the Master Sankara? Is not he the guardian of the 
sacred waters whom by his commentaries has hemmed 
about, against all impurities and Time's jealousy, first 
the mountain tarns of the Upanishads, then the serene 
forest lake of the Bhagavad Gita, and lastly the deep reservoir 
of the Sutras, adding from the generous riches of his wisdom 
lovely fountains and lakelets of his own, the Crest-Jewel, 
the Awakening, the Discernment?" 



INDEX OF SANSCRIT TERMS 207 

Sannydsa. Renunciation of the world for the development of 
Spirit, knowledge, and higher wisdom. 

Sannydsin. One who renounces. A Sannyasin is not a 
monk, as is generally supposed here in Europe, he is a 
philosopher and a saint, helping the people to wake up 
in the spirit. The Sannyasins do not belong to any "closed 
organisation," but are world- teachers who wander freely over 
the whole earth, spreading light and love. 

Sdstra. The Vedas, the Smritis, and the Puranas come under 
the term Sdstra; the word means lit. "that which teaches 
the ruling or master principles of everything concerning 
man as an individual and as a social being." 

Sat. Existence ; the eternal, unchangeable substance or principle 
upon which the Universe is supposed to rest. 

Sattva. The quality of existence. Its special meaning is that 
quality which is the most fundamental in a thing, e.g. in 
mind, intelligence is the most fundamental quality. 

Satyam sivam sundaram. The true, the good, and the beautiful — 
qualities belonging to God. 

Shatchakra. The six centres. 

Siddhi. Success. Its special meaning is success in the 
attainment of yoga and occult powers, which are six in 
number. 

Siva. Lit. "the good." The Cosmos reveals to us the fact 
that good and evil are two aspects of one process tending 
to the evolution of worlds and solar systems. This 
destructive-constructive principle is symbolically repre- 
sented as Siva — the God bringing good out of evil, creation 
out of destruction. 

Sri. Lit. "beautiful." Symbolically the deity of good luck and 
prosperity. Ordinarily used as a title or form of 
address. 

Sthula and Sthulabhuta. "Gross" and "gross elements." 

Sudras. The labourer, or the fourth class in the Hindu 
social organisation. The word Sudra is supposed to be 
derived from a root meaning "sorrow," "misery." Cf. 
the Greek work for "wickedness" (frovqpta) signifying 
"labour" (irdvos). Designations of moral value were 
first applied to men, and at a much later period of social 
life to actions. Cf. Arya = noble, dyadds = good, while 
ko,k6s as bad. 

Suksma. " Subtile " or " fine/' 



208 BRAHMADARSANAM 

Surya. Sun ; also supposed to be the name of a Rishi. 

suswpti. Dreamless sleep. 

Sutra. Condensed sentences. Sanscrit philosophical works are 

mostly written in aphoristic style. 
Svadesa. One's native land. 
Svadharmdkarana. Following one's own natural bent; 

practising the religious and moral precepts innate in 

universal human nature. 
Svdmin. Lord. Generally a title of address towards holy persons. 
Taitiriya Upanishad. One of the Upanishads. 
Tamas. Darkness. Also used in the sense of the indeterminate, 

primal substance of the universe; one of the three gunas, 

characterised by idleness or inertia. 
tanmdtra. The super-subtile basis of gross elements — - a term 

first used in Kapila's philosophy. 
tapasya. Penance. The word signifies that state of the will 

in which it bears all the disturbances produced by the 

heat of our psycho-physical organism and the outer 

world without complaint — hence steadfastness in the 

pursuit of a moral or spiritual idea. 
tattva. Principle. 
tirthdnkara. A Jaina saint. The present age has 24 tirthan- 

karas. For fuller particulars see Dr. Burgess's Appendix 

to Btihler's Indian Sect of the Jainas. 
turiya. The transcendental state of mind — a state of entire 

freedom and perfect glory. 
Upddhi. Condition; the supposition or super-imposition of a 

form of belief, mainly unreal, upon a substance nominally 

real, as in the psychology of illusion. 
Upakosala. A person mentioned in the Upanishads. 
Upanishad. Lit. "science of self-realisation." Refers to the 

philosophical portions of the Veda. 
Updsdna. That mental state of prayer in which man feels himself 

nearer to God. 
upastambha. Transformation of energy. 
Vairdgya. Non-attachment to pleasure; that state of mind 

in which no external object, however attractive, can fascinate 

the mind. 
Vaishesika. The system of philosophy founded by Kanada. 
Vaishnava. Follower of Vishnu. 
Varna. Colour, also class, in the sense of social division, according 

to division of labour. 



INDEX OF SANSCRIT TERMS 209 

Vdsudeva. Another name of Krishna. 

Veda. Refers to the four Vedas. 

Veddnta. Refers to the philosophical portion of the Vedas — 
called the Upanishads — as well as to the Brahma Sutras 
and the Gita. 

Vibhava. Divine emanation in the form of advents or incarna- 
tions. See Pancardtra. 

Videsa. Foreign land. 

Vidyd. Science or systematic knowledge. 

vija-dtman. The central self which, like a seed, gives rise to 
the empirical life. 

Vijndna Bhiksu. A great expositor of Dualism. He wrote 
considerably on Samkhya and Yoga philosophy. His 
interpretation of Kapila's cosmology is considered as 
authoritative. 

Vikdra. Deviation from what a thing is in its original, normal 
state. Vikara corresponds to Spinoza's "mode" and 
Hegel's "becoming." 

Vikurvdna. The process of mass-disintegration and emana- 
tion. 

Virdj. The Impersonal, in its aspect of cosmic intellect, 
guiding the material universe is called Vaisvanara or 
Virdj. 

Visesha. Species under a genus. 

Vishnu. Personal God. 

Visisktddvaita. The philosophy of qualified Monism. 

Visishtddvaitin. A follower of the School of qualified Monism. 

Visvadeva. God as Universal Spirit. 

Visva-Karman. God as maker of the Universe. 

Viveha. True insight into the nature of soul. 

Vydsa. The celebrated author of the Mahabharata and the 
Bhagavata. His name is Krishna Daipayan Vedaviyasa. 
He classified the Vedas in the form we see them now. 

Vyuha. The manifestation of God as Vasudeva, Samkarasana, 
Pradyumna and Aniruddha. 

Yajnavalkya. The name of a Rishi mentioned in the Upani- 
shads. His luminous discourse on the Self and Im- 
mortality is to be found in the Chhandogya and Brihata- 
ranyaka Upanishads. 

Yajur Veda. One of the four Vedas. 

Yati. One who has renounced worldly life in favour of godly 
life. 



210 BRAHMADARSANAM 

Yoga. Communion of the individual with the Universal Spirit 
through prayer, love, self-surrender, and knowledge. 

Yoganidra. A kind of trance in which soul knowledge is 
obtained through the suppression of the physiological 
functions. 

Yogin. An adept in the art and science of self-conquest. 



THE END 



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